Implementation and performance evaluation of an integrated specimen referral system in Burkina Faso using the national courier services (2020-2022).

Introduction: In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene (MoH) of Burkina Faso designed and piloted a specimen transport system using the national courier services (La Poste BF) in 4 districts. Based on satisfactory performance indicators, the MoH set a vision aimed at scaling up this system to strengthen disease detection and surveillance of epidemic prone diseases across the country. This work describes the implementation process, performances, and lessons learned.

[Factors associated with post-term pregnancy at the Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital: case-control study].

Introduction: post-term pregnancy is a risky situation for the fetus and the mother. In our context, few data exist on the subject. This aims to determine the associated factors of post-term pregnancy in order to contribute to a reduction in maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.

Severe dengue in adults and children, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), West Africa, October 2015-January 2017.

Introduction: Although dengue is the most common arbovirus infection worldwide, studies of severe dengue in Africa are lacking, and risk factors for severe dengue have been insufficiently described. This study was conducted in the context of the 2016 dengue epidemic in Burkina Faso to determine the prevalence of severe dengue, identify factors associated with severe dengue, and perform mapping of dengue cases in the country's capital, Ouagadougou.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2015 to January 2017.

Modeling Optimal Laboratory Testing Strategies for Bacterial Meningitis Surveillance in Africa.

Since 2010, the introduction of an effective serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine has led to the near-elimination of invasive Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A disease in Africa's meningitis belt. However, a significant burden of disease and epidemics due to other bacterial meningitis pathogens remain in the region. High-quality surveillance data with laboratory confirmation is important to monitor circulating bacterial meningitis pathogens and design appropriate interventions, but complete testing of all reported cases is often infeasible.

Field Evaluation of the Performance of Two Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Meningitis in Niger and Burkina Faso.

New lateral flow tests for the diagnosis of (Nm) (serogroups A, C, W, X, and Y), MeningoSpeed, and (Sp), PneumoSpeed, developed to support rapid outbreak detection in Africa, have shown good performance under laboratory conditions. We conducted an independent evaluation of both tests under field conditions in Burkina Faso and Niger, in 2018-2019. The tests were performed in the cerebrospinal fluid of suspected meningitis cases from health centers in alert districts and compared to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests performed at national reference laboratories (NRLs).

Evaluation of pneumococcal meningitis clusters in Burkina Faso and implications for potential reactive vaccination.

Background: To better understand how to prevent and respond to pneumococcal meningitis outbreaks in the meningitis belt, we retrospectively examined Burkina Faso's case-based meningitis surveillance data for pneumococcal meningitis clusters and assessed potential usefulness of response strategies.

Methods: Demographic and clinical information, and cerebrospinal fluid laboratory results for meningitis cases were collected through nationwide surveillance. Pneumococcal cases were confirmed by culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or latex agglutination; strains were serotyped using PCR.

Impact of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine on Pneumococcal Meningitis, Burkina Faso, 2016-2017.

Background: In 2013, Burkina Faso introduced 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) into the routine childhood immunization program, to be administered to children at 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age. We evaluated the impact of PCV13 on pneumococcal meningitis.

Methods: Using nationwide surveillance, we gathered demographic/clinical information and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results for meningitis cases.

[Varicella (chickenpox) morbidity and mortality in hospital: about 19 cases collected at the Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital, Burkina Faso].

Varicella is a viral disease whose cause is poorly known in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study is to describe varicella features in the department of infectious diseases at the Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital. We here report a series of 19 cases of patients hospitalized between the 1January 2005 and 31 December 2014.

Chronic kidney disease and HIV in the era of antiretroviral treatment: findings from a 10-year cohort study in a west African setting.

Background: It has been reported that people living with HIV in West Africa exhibited the highest risks for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the world. Here, we aimed at determining the CKD frequency and changes in kidney function during antiretroviral treatment (ART) in a large cohort of HIV-patients followed in Burkina Faso.

Methods: We included ART-naive adults who initiated ART at the Day Care Unit of the Souro Sanou University Hospital between 01/01/2007 and 12/31/2016.

[Characteristics of Low-Level Persistent viraemias in HIV-1 Patients Treated with Second-Line ARVs at the Sourô Sanou Teaching Hospital of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso)].

We describe the characteristics of patients infected with HIV-1 as second-line antiretroviral therapy, with persisting low-level viremia. This was a descriptive retrospective study, conducted from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2016, from the Cohort of the Infectious Diseases Department of Bobo-Dioulasso University Hospital. Patients infected with HIV-1, a second line of stable ARV treatment, with ≥95% compliance for at least 12 months, asymptomatic with CVp between 50 and 1000 copies/ml in two consecutive samplings at least 3 months apart.

Maternal Mortality at the Dori Regional Hospital in Northern Burkina Faso, 2014-2016.

Background: Maternal mortality is of considerable magnitude. It is particularly relevant to developing countries, including those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this work was to study the cases of maternal deaths in the Dori Regional Hospital, Burkina Faso in the Sahel region, by analyzing the epidemiological aspects of these deaths in order to guide decision-making.

Building Laboratory-Based Arbovirus Sentinel Surveillance Capacity During an Ongoing Dengue Outbreak, Burkina Faso, 2017.

In West Africa, identification of nonmalarial acute febrile illness (AFI) etiologic pathogens is challenging, given limited epidemiologic surveillance and laboratory testing, including for AFI caused by arboviruses. Consequently, public health action to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks is constrained, as experienced during dengue outbreaks in several African countries. We describe the successful implementation of laboratory-based arbovirus sentinel surveillance during a dengue outbreak in Burkina Faso during fall 2017.

Initial validation of a simulation model for estimating the impact of serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis vaccination in the African meningitis belt.

We previously developed a mathematical simulation of serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis (NmA) transmission in Burkina Faso, with the goal of forecasting the relative benefit of different vaccination programs. Here, we revisit key structural assumptions of the model by comparing how accurately the different assumptions reproduce observed NmA trends following vaccine introduction. A priori, we updated several of the model's parameters based on recently published studies.

Dengue Fever in Burkina Faso, 2016.

We report 1,327 probable cases of dengue in Burkina Faso in 2016. Of 35 serum samples tested by a trioplex test, 19 were confirmed dengue virus (DENV)‒positive: 11 DENV-2, 6 DENV-3, 2 nontypeable, and 1 DENV-2/DENV-3 co-infection. Molecular testing should be conducted to correctly identify causative agents in this complex infectious disease landscape.

Early impact of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on pneumococcal meningitis-Burkina Faso, 2014-2015.

Objectives: We evaluate early impact of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) on pneumococcal meningitis in Burkina Faso.

Methods: Nationwide surveillance gathered demographic/clinical information and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results for meningitis cases. Pneumococcal cases were confirmed by culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or latex agglutination, and strains serotyped using PCR.

Bacterial meningitis epidemiology and return of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A cases in Burkina Faso in the five years following MenAfriVac mass vaccination campaign.

Background: Historically, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (NmA) caused large meningitis epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2010, Burkina Faso became the first country to implement a national meningococcal serogroup A conjugate vaccine (MACV) campaign. We analyzed nationwide meningitis surveillance data from Burkina Faso for the 5 years following MACV introduction.

A study on HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B and C virus infections among female sex workers in the Republic of Congo.

Background: Female Sex Workers (FSWs) are considered to be at high risk for transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and are defined as a priority of the national HIV/AIDS response in the Republic of Congo (RoC). However, no data are available regarding STIs in this group. This study aimed to determine the prevalences of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C among FSWs in five cities in the country.

Nationwide Trends in Bacterial Meningitis before the Introduction of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine-Burkina Faso, 2011-2013.

Background: Following introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine in 2006 and serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine in 2010, Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) became the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in Burkina Faso. We describe bacterial meningitis epidemiology, focusing on pneumococcal meningitis, before 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) introduction in the pediatric routine immunization program in October 2013.

Methods: Nationwide population-based meningitis surveillance collects case-level demographic and clinical information and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) laboratory results.

Serogroup A meningococcal conjugate (PsA-TT) vaccine coverage and measles vaccine coverage in Burkina Faso--implications for introduction of PsA-TT into the Expanded Programme on Immunization.

Background: A new serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT, MenAfriVac™) has been developed to combat devastating serogroup A Neisseria meningitis (MenA) epidemics in Africa. A mass immunization campaign targeting 1-29 year olds was conducted in Burkina Faso in December 2010. Protection of subsequent infant cohorts will be necessary through either introduction of PsA-TT into the routine Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) or periodic repeat mass vaccination campaigns.

[Nutritional status of street children in the district of Manga (Burkina Faso)].

Malnutrition is an important indicator of development, and its consequences in children and adolescents produce a serious socioeconomic burden. Children living on the street are more vulnerable than others. Thus, our objective was to analyze the nutritional status of children living on the streets of Manga, through a cross-sectional and analytical study.

[Polyneuropathies in patients treated with HAART in Bobo-Dioulasso hospital, Burkina Faso].

Peripheral neuropathies (PN) represent the most common neurological manifestation in patients with HIV infection. Introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) had a significant impact on the epidemiology of HIV-associated neuropathies even in poor-resources countries. HIV-infected patients were followed up over a 2-years period from January 2002 to December 2003.

[New-onset seizures in patients with immunodeficiency virus infection in Bobo-Dioulasso Hospital (Burkina Faso)].

Seizures are common in advanced stages of immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HIV-infected outpatients and inpatients in the national hospital in Bobo-Dioulasso among whom seizures occurred had been recruited over four years. There were mainly male (30/13) with an average age of 35 years with extremes ranging from 22 to 60 years.