Microbial surveillance versus cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows.

The success of introduced species often relies on flexible traits, including immune system traits. While theories predict non-natives will have weak defences due to decreased parasite pressure, effective parasite surveillance remains crucial, as infection risk is rarely zero and the evolutionary novelty of infection is elevated in non-native areas. This study examines the relationship between parasite surveillance and cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows, hypothesizing that non-natives maintain high pathogen surveillance while avoiding costly inflammation.

Adult With Tinea Capitis: A Five-Year (2015-2019) Trend Study Among Patients Attending the Aristide Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar, Senegal.

Background: Although tinea capitis (TC) is most commonly diagnosed in children, several studies have also shown that it is far from unusual in adults.

Objectives: To determine the frequency and risk factors of TC in adults in Dakar, Senegal.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study including all patients who visited the Parasitology and Mycology Lab at Aristide Le Dantec University Hospital for suspicion of TC was conducted from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019.

Situational analysis of the quality of maternal, child, and adolescent health data in the health districts of Thiès, Mbour, Kédougou, and Saraya in Senegal.

Introduction: In Senegal, the Routine Health Information System (RHIS) captures the majority of data from the Ministry of Health and Social Action (MHSA) public structures and very little health data from the private sector and other ministerial departments. Quality data strengthens the validity and reliability of research results. Common areas of data quality include accuracy, completeness, consistency, credibility, and timeliness.

Antenatal care and breastfeeding practices in Sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of demographic and health surveys.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends immediate breastfeeding (within the first hour after birth) and exclusive breastfeeding (for the first six months of life), particularly in low-resource settings such as sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, WHO updated its antenatal care (ANC) guidelines, recommending at least eight (8+) ANC contacts during pregnancy to improve maternal and child health outcomes. This study investigates i) trends in breastfeeding practices across sub-Saharan Africa following the rollout of the revised WHO 2016 ANC policy and ii) the relationship between ANC uptake and exclusive or early breastfeeding.

Comparison of good review practices of seven countries participating in the ECOWAS medicines regulatory harmonisation initiative: identifying opportunities for improvement.

Introduction: When implemented by national and regional regulatory agencies good review practices (GRevPs) support the timely high-quality review of medicines for enhanced patients' availability to safe, quality and efficacious innovative and generic products. It is important that all aspects of GRevPs are continuously evaluated and updated to promote the continuous improvement of regulatory systems at national and regional levels. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the GRevPs of the national medicines regulatory agencies (NMRAs) of Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, who are active participants of the ECOWASMRH initiative to identify opportunities for improvement.

[Epidemiology and risk factors of persistent arterial hypertension after preeclampsia: a longitudinal study at the Chad-China Friendship Hospital].

Introduction: arterial hypertension (AH) may persist beyond three months postpartum after preeclampsia, increasing the long-term risk of cardiovascular complications. The purpose of this study is to describe the epidemiological aspects and factors associated with persistent hypertension following preeclampsia.

Methods: we conducted a longitudinal descriptive study, from January 2022 to June 2023.

Evaluating programmatic reactive focal drug administration impact on malaria incidence in northern Senegal: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: The World Health Organization conditionally recommends reactive drug administration to reduce malaria transmission in settings approaching elimination. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of reactive focal drug administration (rFDA) in sub-Saharan Africa, and none have evaluated it under programmatic conditions. In 2016, Senegal's national malaria control programme introduced rFDA, the presumptive treatment of compound members of a person with confirmed malaria, and reactive mass focal drug administration (rMFDA), an expanded effort including neighbouring compounds during an outbreak, in 10 low transmission districts in the north of the country.

Myiasis by Cordylobia anthropophaga and C. rodhaini (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Polish travelers to Africa with new molecular data.

Myiasis is a parasitic infestation of soft vertebrate tissues by larval stages of Diptera. We briefly described the lesion-causing genus Cordylobia Grünberg (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Three Polish travelers to Uganda, Gambia, and Senegal returned with furuncular myiasis.

Clinical Features of Human Parvovirus B19-Associated Encephalitis Identified in the Dakar Region, Senegal, and Viral Genome Characterization.

Neurological manifestations associated with human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infections are rare and varied. Acute encephalitis and encephalopathy are the most common, accounting for 38.8% of all neurological manifestations associated with human B19V.

Genetic and Molecular Characterization of Avian Influenza A(H9N2) Viruses from Live Bird Markets (LBM) in Senegal.

Despite extensive experience with influenza surveillance in humans in Senegal, there is limited knowledge about the actual situation and genetic diversity of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) circulating in the country, hindering control measures and pandemic risk assessment. Therefore, as part of the "One Health" approach to influenza surveillance, we conducted active AIV surveillance in two live bird markets (LBMs) in Dakar to better understand the dynamics and diversity of influenza viruses in Senegal, obtain genetic profiles of circulating AIVs, and assess the risk of emergence of novel strains and their transmission to humans. Cloacal swabs from poultry and environmental samples collected weekly from the two LBMs were screened by RT-qPCR for H5, H7, and H9 AIVs.

Mapping hotspots of zoonotic pathogen emergence: an integrated model-based and participatory-based approach.

Background: An increase in pandemics of zoonotic origin has led to a growing interest in using statistical prediction to identify hotspots of zoonotic emergence. However, the rare nature of pathogen emergence requires modellers to impose simplifying assumptions, which limit the model's validity. We present a novel approach to hotspot mapping that aims to improve validity by combining model-based insights with expert knowledge.

Exploring shifts in values among urban Senegalese: The impact of global crises on social and cultural norms.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered social and economic stagnation worldwide, significantly impacting people's lives. In addition, the Russia-Ukraine war that began in 2022 resulted in rising food prices globally, severely affecting low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to examine the impact of these unprecedented crises on individual values, focusing on Senegal's urban population.

Exploring the burden of cholera in the WHO African region: patterns and trends from 2000 to 2023 cholera outbreak data.

Introduction: Cholera outbreaks remain persistent in the WHO African region, with an increased trend in recent years. This study analyses actual drivers of cholera including correlations with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) indicators, and climate change trends.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytic study.

An assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the regional framework for cholera prevention and control in the WHO African region.

High-burden cholera outbreaks, spreading beyond the traditional cholera-endemic countries, have been reported since 2021 in the WHO African region. Member states in the region have committed to the global goal of cholera elimination by 2030. To track progress towards this goal, WHO-African countries adopted a regional cholera prevention and control framework in 2018.

Monitoring molecular markers associated with antimalarial drug resistance in south-east Senegal from 2021 to 2023.

Background: Since 2006, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been introduced in Senegal in response to chloroquine resistance (CQ-R) and have shown high efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum. However, the detection of the PfKelch13R515K mutation in Kaolack, which confers artemisinin resistance in vitro, highlights the urgency of strengthening antimalarial drug surveillance to achieve malaria elimination by 2030.

Objective: To assess the proportion of P.

Dehydration-induced regulates midgut infection in mosquitoes.

Unlabelled: Climate change is predicted to increase the spread of mosquito-borne viruses, but genetic mechanisms underlying the influence of environmental variation on the ability of insect vectors to transmit human pathogens is unknown. In response to a changing climate, mosquitoes will experience longer periods of drought. An important physiological response to dry environments is the protection against dehydration, here defined as desiccation tolerance.

Phospho-Proteomics Analysis of Early Response to X-Ray Irradiation Reveals Molecular Mechanism Potentially Related to U251 Cell Radioresistance.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a devastating malignant brain tumor with a poor prognosis. GBM is associated with radioresistance. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as protein phosphorylation can play an important role in the cellular response to radiation.

High unmet needs for cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in six African countries: A population-based study.

Background: Cisgender women living with HIV (WLWH) are disproportionately impacted by cervical cancer. Nevertheless, disparities in uptake and implementation of cervical cancer services persist in sub-Saharan Africa, where population-level estimates of screening coverage remain scarce.

Methods: We pooled data from nationally representative Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) surveys conducted in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (2015-2019).

How norms-shifting interventions foster community-level social and behavior change: new insights from a synthesis of realist evaluations of community-level interventions.

Social norms, the informal rules that influence behavior, play essential roles in shaping people's behavior. Community-based norms-shifting interventions (NSIs) identify gender and other social norms linked to unhealthy behaviors and implement activities to promote collective change by encouraging communities to reflect on and question these norms. Though NSIs are gaining international traction in social and behavior change programming for health promotion, how change occurs needs to be clearly understood in African and other contexts.

Cost-effectiveness of decentralising acute malnutrition treatment with a standard or simplified treatment protocol: an economic evaluation in the region of Gao, Mali.

Background: Acute malnutrition treatment coverage remains low worldwide, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Decentralisation of treatment to Community Health Worker (CHW) sites has shown to be an effective strategy to improve access and increase coverage, but evidence on the cost and cost-effectiveness of this approach as well the use of simplified treatment protocols in conflict settings is lacking. The objective of this study was to determine cost per child treated as well as the cost-effectiveness of the hybrid model of treatment delivery (where treatment is provided at both health facilities and CHW sites) using either a standard protocol (Intervention 1) or simplified protocol (Intervention 2) compared to standard treatment at health facilities only (Control) in the conflict affected region of Gao in Northern Mali.

Improvement of Iron and β-Carotene Bioaccessibility in Complementary Foods: Biofortification of Local Crops With Organic Residual Products and Microorganisms.

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a great public health challenge worldwide with iron, zinc, and vitamin A being the most problematic. It has been shown that biofortification through agronomic strategies can increase their micronutrient content, but data on the bioavailability remain limited. In Senegal, consumption of cereals and legumes is high, and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), rich in β-carotene, has been introduced a decade ago.

Association of gross domestic product with equitable access to childhood vaccines in 195 countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Gross domestic product (GDP) has been shown to affect government spending on various budget heads including healthcare and the purchase and distribution of vaccines. This vulnerable situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted and exposed the fragile nature of equitable access to vaccines for childhood immunisation globally. A systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association of country income status and GDP with vaccination coverage of vaccines for childhood immunisation and other major infectious diseases around the globe will inform global and national policy on equity in living standards and vaccine uptake.

Costs analysis of integrating group interpersonal therapy into HIV care services in Senegal.

Introduction: Group Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), an evidence-based treatment of depression recommended by the WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide, was implemented through a task-shifting approach in Senegal, as a treatment for depressed people living with HIV (PLWH). Since a description of the resources used and the implementation costs incurred is necessary to inform policymakers better, this study aimed to estimate the costs associated with its implementation.

Methods: Intervention costs were analyzed using an "ingredients-based costing approach" from the provider's perspective.