Real-Life Diagnostic Accuracy and Clinical Utility of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Nucleic Acid Testing Using the GeneXpert Point-of-Care Test System from Fresh Plasma and Dry Blood Spot Samples in The Gambia.

The GeneXpert HBV Viral Load test is a simplified tool to scale up screening and HBV monitoring in resource-limited settings, where HBV is endemic and where molecular techniques to quantify HBV DNA are expensive and scarce. However, the accuracy of field diagnostics compared to gold standard assays in HBV-endemic African countries has not been well understood. We aim to validate the diagnostic performance of the GeneXpert HBV Viral Load test in freshly collected and stored plasma and dried blood spot (DBS) samples to assess turn-around-time (TAT) for sample processing and treatment initiation, to map GeneXpert machines and to determine limitations to its use in The Gambia.

The Role of Formal Schooling, Literacy, and Health Knowledge in Addressing Domestic Violence Against Women in West Africa.

When "education" is cited as a solution for domestic violence, different aspects of knowledge acquisition are often omitted. This study uses 2019 Demographic and Health Surveys from four West African countries (The Gambia, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone) with a combined sample size of 12,480 women and generalized ordered logit regression to examine the effects of types of knowledge (years of schooling, literacy, and health knowledge) on domestic violence (physical abuse, emotional abuse, and control issues). The results suggest that literacy has the most reliable beneficial impact on domestic violence and was consistently associated with decreased odds of abuse.

Measles-Rubella Microarray Patches Phase III Clinical Trial Framework: Proposal and Considerations.

: The Measles-Rubella Microarray Patch (MR-MAP) is an important technology that is expected to reduce coverage and equity gaps for measles-containing vaccines (MCVs), reach zero-dose children, and contribute to elimination of measles and rubella. MR-MAPs are anticipated to be easier to deploy programmatically and could be delivered by lesser-trained health workers, thereby increasing immunization coverage. The most advanced MR-MAP has reached clinical proof-of-concept through a Phase I/II trial in the target population of infants and young children.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Strategies to Address Under- and Over-Nutrition.

Although malnutrition in the form of child wasting, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies remain prevalent on many of the poorest and war-torn places on earth, there has been major progress in other regions and the direction of travel remains generally good. However, as countries pass through the economic transition there has been a seemingly inevitable rise in overweight and obesity with its attendant personal health costs (reduced life span due to obesity-related chronic conditions) and a rise in the societal costs of care. Strategies, by healthcare professionals and others, to combat the two sides of the malnutrition coin must be built on a solid foundational knowledge of the causes of each condition.

Technical and economic simulation of a hybrid renewable energy power system design for industrial application.

Countries in Africa rank the highest in low energy accessibility and air pollution globally. Presenting the urgent need to explore renewable energy sources to tackle the power challenge and reduce the carbon footprint for a greener atmosphere. A novel hybrid wind and solar renewable energy power system (HREPS) coupled to a battery that is capable of powering industrial appliances in the Basse district of The Gambia has been proposed.

The role of vitamin D metabolism in regulating bone turnover in adolescents with perinatally-acquired HIV in Southern Africa: a cross-sectional study in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Vitamin D dysregulation can occur in people living with HIV, disrupting calcium homeostasis, and bone turnover. We aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms by which vitamin D regulates bone turnover in adolescents living with perinatally-acquired HIV (ALWH) in Southern Africa. A pre-planned secondary analysis was performed of baseline data from the vitamin D for adolescents with HIV to reduce musculoskeletal morbidity and immunopathology trial (PACTR20200989766029) which enrolled ALWH (11-19 yr) taking antiretroviral therapy for ≥6 mo, and recorded socio-demographic, clinical and dietary data.

Budgetary tracking of food and nutrition security funding in selected Sahel and West Africa regions from 2017 to 2019.

The longer-term trend towards decreasing foreign assistance has aroused great interest in tracking domestic funding given that more than half of the anticipated additional funding for nutrition is expected from domestic sources. Given the limited trend analysis of nutrition budgets across developing countries, this review aimed to examine trends in nutrition financing as a proxy of national commitment to nutrition. We explored the programme-based budget allocations and expenditure from 2017 to 2019 in the Chad Republic, Gambia and Ghana for food and nutrition security (FNS) activities in various sectors.

The Complex Relationship Between Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Cardiovascular Disease and Their Interactions With COVID-19 Vaccination: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Previously, most researchers explored the association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study investigates the distinct influence of COVID-19 vaccination status on patients with both conditions.

Objective: We investigate the relationship between COPD and CVD in a cohort of 838 individuals who presented with both conditions.

Adjunctive ivermectin mass drug administration for malaria control on the Bijagos Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau (MATAMAL): a quadruple-blinded, cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Arthropod vectors feeding on the blood of individuals treated with ivermectin have substantially increased mortality. Whether this effect will translate into a useful tool for reducing malaria burden at scale is not clear. Our trial aimed to assess whether using ivermectin as an adjunct to mass drug administration (MDA) with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine would further reduce malaria prevalence.

Microfluidic qPCR for detection of 21 common respiratory viruses in children with influenza-like illness.

Multiple respiratory viruses lead to high morbidity and mortality, yet global surveillance platforms focus primarily on seasonal influenza viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic and new RSV vaccines highlight the importance of a broader approach. Upper respiratory tract swabs from children aged 24-59 months presenting with influenza-like illness in The Gambia were collected during follow-up of a live-attenuated influenza vaccine randomised controlled trial in 2017-18.

Innovative diagnostic technologies: navigating regulatory frameworks through advances, challenges, and future prospects.

Diagnostic tools are key to guiding patient management and informing public health policies to control infectious diseases. However, many diseases still do not have effective diagnostics and much of the global population faces restricted access to reliable, affordable testing. This limitation underscores the urgent need for innovation to enhance diagnostic availability and effectiveness.

The validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of vitamin D metabolites in human milk and their biological variability in Gambian women.

Vitamin D is required for healthy growth and development, but data on human milk vitamin D content is limited. We describe a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the analysis of vitamin D metabolites in human milk, and its application in samples collected on two consecutive days from women in rural Gambia. Vitamin D compounds were extracted from 1 mL of milk by liquid-liquid extraction and derivatised with 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) prior to analysis by LC-MS/MS.

COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION NEEDS OF PARENTS OF PRETERM INFANTS IN A TERTIARY HEALTH FACILITY IN NIGERIA: A QUALITATIVE STUDY.

Introduction/background: Parents of hospitalized preterm infants often experience a range of emotions and seek accurate information about their child's health progress. In low-resource settings, there is limited data on the specific communication and information needs of these parents during hospitalization. While some studies in Africa have identified poor communication as a factor affecting parental care experiences, few have explored solutions from the parent's perspective.

FATAL CEREBRAL TRANSVERSE VENOUS THROMBOSIS IN AN ADOLESCENT MALE: A CASE OF DELAYED PRESENTATION.

Introduction/background: Venous sinus thrombosis hypercoagulable states leads to delayed drainage of blood from the brain; consequently, resulting in cerebral oedema, raised intracranial pressure, or stroke. Causes are variable, including severe dehydration, infections, cancers, sinusitis, and brain surgery. The commonest symptoms are headache, seizures, and unconsciousness.

A RARE CASE OF MIXED CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING POLYRADICULOPATHY (CIDP) AND ACUTE TRANSVERSE MYELITIS (ATM).

Introduction/background: Though CIDP and ATM are both inflammatory disorders of the nervous system with distinct features, they rarely occur together in the same individual.

Case Presentation: A 41-year-old male trader was admitted with 10 10-day history of paraplegia and weakness of upper limbs. The illness started with lower limb paresthesia, weakness of the left leg, then the right leg after 5 days, proceeding to paraplegia, weakness of upper arms, urine retention, and constipation 3 days before presentation.

Mitigation of aflatoxin contamination of maize, groundnut, and sorghum by commercial biocontrol products in farmers' fields across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Togo.

Background: Aflatoxin contamination by section Flavi fungi poses a significant threat to food security and public health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Maize, groundnut, and sorghum are staple crops frequently contaminated with aflatoxins, sometimes at dangerous levels. Despite its detrimental effects, many farmers in SSA lack access to effective tools for mitigating aflatoxin contamination.

Coping strategies for household water insecurity in rural Gambia, mediating factors in the relationship between weather, water and health.

Background: Rural communities in low- and middle-income countries, such as The Gambia, often experience water insecurity periodically due to climate drivers such as heavy rainfall and reduced rainfall, as well as non-climate drivers such as infrastructural issues and seasonal workloads. When facing these challenges households use a variety of coping mechanisms that could pose a risk to health. We aimed to understand the drivers of water insecurity (climate and non-climate), the behavioural responses to water insecurity and the risks these responses pose to the health of communities in rural Gambia and map these findings onto a conceptual framework.

Enhancing clinical microbiology for genomic surveillance of antimicrobial resistance implementation in Africa.

Surveillance is essential in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), to monitor the extent of resistance, inform prevention, control measures, and evaluate intervention progress. Traditional surveillance methods based on phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility data offer important but limited insights into resistance mechanisms, transmission networks, and spread patterns of resistant bacterial strains. Fortunately, genomic technologies are increasingly accessible and can overcome these limitations.

Meningiomas of the parieto-occipital convexity mimicking a hematoma: A case report in a third-world country.

Background: Meningiomas are benign, slow-growing tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) that arise from the arachnoid matter. It comprises one of the most common primary tumors of the CNS, occurring mostly in and after the fifth decade of life with a female gender predilection. Diagnosis is facilitated by imaging computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, atypical forms exist which augments the risk of missing the diagnosis.

Identification of complex Plasmodium falciparum genetic backgrounds circulating in Africa: a multicountry genomic epidemiology analysis.

Background: The population structure of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum can reveal underlying adaptive evolutionary processes. Selective pressures to maintain complex genetic backgrounds can encourage inbreeding, producing distinct parasite clusters identifiable by population structure analyses.

Methods: We analysed population structure in 3783 P falciparum genomes from 21 countries across Africa, provided by the MalariaGEN Pf7 dataset.