What Is Already Known About This Topic?: Sierra Leone, with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita below $300 and significant poverty, ranks among the world's least developed countries (LDCs). Despite its modest population of 8.6 million, the nation reports approximately 2.6 million malaria cases annually. Previously, there has been no reporting on the malaria genome data from this country.
What Is Added By This Report?: In this study, we present the first reported whole-genome sequence analysis of 19 high parasite-density isolates from Sierra Leone, providing insights into the genomic epidemiology of this high-prevalence area. We found a high degree of relatedness among infections and substantial genetic diversity, consistent with the gradual reduction in overall case numbers. Moreover, our whole-genome analysis revealed that, beyond drug-resistance genes, gene families related to blood cell invasion, immune evasion, and others are undergoing directional selection. This suggests that the population in Sierra Leone has developed a relatively strong acquired immunity.
What Are The Implications For Public Health Practice?: The genomic data not only facilitate the creation of single nucleotide polymorphism barcodes for case tracking but also enable the analysis of evolving transmission dynamics and selection pressures. Additionally, the samples from Sierra Leone exhibited higher selective pressures on resistance genes compared to those from Asia, a trend not commonly observed in other African samples. This suggests that less stringent healthcare systems and inconsistent treatment strategies can subject parasites to increased drug pressure, thereby accelerating the development of resistant strains.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11082561 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2024.071 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Feasibility of introducing integrated disease surveillance and response into curricula of public health training institutions in Sierra Leone: the process and lessons learnt.
Front Public Health
January 2025
World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
Introduction: Response to public health emergencies is a big challenge in African countries due to inadequate workforce. Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) is a strategy implemented by African member states of WHO to strengthen capacity for disease surveillance and response at all levels. Despite successful implementation of IDSR in most countries, one of the challenges that persists is that of inadequate trained workforce competent enough for public health surveillance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevalence and correlates of child labour in five low-income countries: a descriptive study based on UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys 6 (MICS6).
BMJ Paediatr Open
December 2024
Department of Community Paediatrics, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.
Background: The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children need to be protected from 'any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development'. We aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of child labour in five low-income African countries using the sixth wave of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS6).
Methods: Data on child labour, reported by the household respondent for a randomly selected child (5-17 years), were extracted from MICS6 reports from Chad, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Risk Factors and Outcomes of Acute Pulmonary Embolism in African Patients: A Systematic Review.
Cureus
November 2024
Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, NGA.
Pulmonary embolism is a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Numerous risk factors have been identified that predispose patients to this disease. This study aims to identify these risk factors and the possible outcomes (recovery or mortality) after receiving treatment from any hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF'Making abortion safe': abortion and post-abortion care providers' experiences of stigma in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
BMJ Sex Reprod Health
December 2024
Faculty of Health and Social Care, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
Background: Social stigma and the marginalisation of abortion care within medical settings can negatively affect abortion providers. While some research has evaluated stigma interventions in legally restrictive settings, little work has explored the experiences of healthcare professionals (HCPs) providing abortion and post-abortion care (PAC) outside the USA. This study, part of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' 'Making Abortion Safe' programme, aimed to understand providers' experiences of abortion stigma in four African countries with restrictive legislation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSocioeconomic and geographical inequalities in polio immunisation coverage among two-year-olds in Sierra Leone, 2008-2019.
BMC Infect Dis
December 2024
Department of Environmental Health, School of Community Health Sciences, Njala University, PMB, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Background: Polio, a debeilitating and potentially life-threatening disease, continues to pose a risk to young children globally. While vaccination offers a powerful shield, its reach is not always equal. This study explores socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in polio immunisation coverage among two-year-olds in Sierra Leone between 2008 and 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!