Diagnosis and management of benign ovarian tumors at the Ignace Deen Maternity Hospital of Conakry University Hospital in Guinea

Background: Benign ovarian tumors are a common reason for consultation and intervention in gynecology. The objective of this was to describe the clinical, ultrasonographic, histological and therapeutic aspects of benign ovarian tumors in the department.Methods: This is a retrospective and descriptive study of three years and six months from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2019, which focused on the records of women-operated during this period of benign ovarian tumors.Results: The incidence of benign ovarian tumors was 12.58%. The circumstances of discovery were dominated by disorders of the menstrual cycle (35.05%) followed by infertility (20.78%), the sensation of a pelvic mass (19.48%), and pelvic pain. (15.58%). The ultrasound report was in favor of a serous cyst in 74% of cases, a mucoid cyst in 14% of cases, a dermoid cyst in 9% and an endometriotic cyst in 3%. Histology revealed a serous cystadenoma in 70.13% of the cases, a mucinous cystadenoma in 16.88% of the cases, a mature poly tissue teratoma in 9.09% of the cases and an endometrial cyst in 3.90 % of the cases. Cystectomy was the most performed surgical procedure (71%).Conclusions: Benign ovarian tumors are common in our practice. The most common histological forms were serous and mucinous cystadenomas. Conservative treatment has been practiced in the majority of cases

Obstetrical complications among adolescent girls at the maternity ward of Ignace Deen National Hospital

Background: The objective of this study was to highlight obstetrical complications that occurred among adolescent girls who delivered at the ward and to identify factors associated with the occurrence of such complications.Methods: This was a prospective study of descriptive and analytical type extending over a period of one year from September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017 carried out at the maternity ward of Ignace Deen National Hospital at Conakry Teaching Hospital (CHU). It covered a continuous series of 1034 deliveries among adolescent girls.Results: The frequency of childbirth among adolescent girls was 16.7%. The main complications identified were dystocia, severe preeclampsia, eclampsia, retroplacental hematoma, placenta previa, uterine rupture, severe anemia, postpartum hemorrhage and puerperal endometritis. These complications occurred among adolescent girls aged 18 to 19, christian, skin and pelvic bones secondary school or university students. Factors associated with such complications were the marital status (p=0.010), the gestational age (p=0.012), the number of prenatal consultations (p=0.001), the place of prenatal consultation (p=0.001), the reason for admission (p=0.000) and the mode of admission (p=0.000).Conclusions: Childbirth among adolescent girls is frequent in this context; complications are numerous but they are preventable in the vast majority of cases

Outcome of surgical management of genital prolapse in the obstetric gynecology department of the Ignace Deen Hospital in Conakry, Guinea

Background: Each year several patients are operated on for genital prolapse in our department, but no study has yet been done to analyse the results. The objective of this study was to highlight the operating techniques used and to analyse the anatomical and functional outcomes.Methods: It was an observational, longitudinal, prospective and descriptive study which took place over a period of 2 years in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of the Ignace Deen hospital de Conakry in Guinea. This study focused on patients operated on in the department for genital prolapse.Results: During the study period, 67 patients underwent genital prolapse surgery in the department. The operating techniques used are the triple perineal operation or, associated with colposuspension and/or Richter or Mc Call, Richardson's operation, Rouhier's operation and promonto-fixation. This study recorded in the follow up a case of recurrence of hysterocele one year after a Richardson operation, a correction of all digestive and sexual functional disorders and a correction of 81.25% of functional urinary disorders. The intraoperative complications were a rectal wound, two bladder wounds and three cases of hemorrhage requiring blood transfusion. The post-operative results were good in 98.5% of the cases.Conclusions: The lower approach is the main route used for surgical treatment of prolapse. The anatomical and functional results obtained are encouraging

Acceptability of contraceptive implants at the maternity ward of the Matam Communal Medical Center

Background: World Health Organization (WHO), defines contraception as "the use of agents, devices, methods or procedures to decrease the likelihood of conception or avoid it". In Africa, only 24% of women of childbearing age have access to a modern contraceptive method. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of use of the contraceptive implant, to describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the users, to identify the reasons for the choice of the method and to assess the degree of satisfaction of the clients.Methods: The study was conducted at the Matam Communal Medical Center on level 2 of the health pyramid in Guinea. This was a 12-month cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study (June 2017 to May 2018), including all women admitted for desire for contraception and who agreed to choose the implant as a contraceptive method.Results: The study involved 512 clients. The proportion of female users was 26.21%. The average age was 27.8 years, the main users were women of liberal trade, married, multiparous. The main reasons for choice cited by clients were the effectiveness and long duration of action of the method, i.e. 35.2% and 30.9% respectively. The majority of providers of the method were represented by midwives (73.3%) and the degree of client satisfaction with the method was 97%.Conclusions: The implant is a long-acting method of contraction. It is frequently used at the Communal Medical Center of Matam. Its efficient use would involve effective counselling

Ring vaccination with rVSV-ZEBOV under expanded access in response to an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Guinea, 2016: an operational and vaccine safety report.

BACKGROUND: In March, 2016, a flare-up of Ebola virus disease was reported in Guinea, and in response ring vaccination with the unlicensed rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine was introduced under expanded access, the first time that an Ebola vaccine has been used in an outbreak setting outside a clinical trial. Here we describe the safety of rVSV-ZEBOV candidate vaccine and operational feasibility of ring vaccination as a reactive strategy in a resource-limited rural setting. METHODS: Approval for expanded access and compassionate use was rapidly sought and obtained from relevant authorities. Vaccination teams and frozen vaccine were flown to the outbreak settings. Rings of contacts and contacts of contacts were defined and eligible individuals, who had given informed consent, were vaccinated and followed up for 21 days under good clinical practice conditions. FINDINGS: Between March 17 and April 21, 2016, 1510 individuals were vaccinated in four rings in Guinea, including 303 individuals aged between 6 years and 17 years and 307 front-line workers. It took 10 days to vaccinate the first participant following the confirmation of the first case of Ebola virus disease. No secondary cases of Ebola virus disease occurred among the vaccinees. Adverse events following vaccination were reported in 47 (17%) 6-17 year olds (all mild) and 412 (36%) adults (individuals older than 18 years; 98% were mild). Children reported fewer arthralgia events than adults (one [<1%] of 303 children vs 81 [7%] of 1207 adults). No severe vaccine-related adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: The results show that a ring vaccination strategy can be rapidly and safely implemented at scale in response to Ebola virus disease outbreaks in rural settings. FUNDING: WHO, Gavi, and the World Food Programme

rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination in people with pre-existing immunity to Ebolavirus: an open-label safety and immunogenicity study in Guinean communities affected by Ebola virus disease (l’essai proches )

Background: Zaire Ebolavirus disease (EVD) outbreaks can be controlled using rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination and other public health measures. People in high-risk areas may have pre-existing antibodies from asymptomatic Ebolavirus exposure that might affect response to rVSV-ZEBOV. Therefore, we assessed the impact pre-existing immunity had on post-vaccination IgG titre, virus neutralisation, and reactogenicity following vaccination. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 2115 consenting close contacts (“proches”) of EVD survivors were recruited. Proches were vaccinated with rVSV-ZEBOV and followed up for 28 days for safety and immunogenicity. Anti-GP IgG titre at baseline and day 28 was assessed by ELISA. Samples from a representative subset were evaluated using live virus neutralisation. Results: Ten percent were seropositive at baseline. At day 28, IgG in baseline seronegative (GMT 0.106 IU/ml, 95% CI: 0.100 to 0.113) and seropositive (GMT 0.237 IU/ml, 0.210 to 0.267) participants significantly increased from baseline (both p < 0.0001). There was strong correlation between antibody titres and virus neutralisation in day 28 samples (Spearman’s rho 0.75). Vaccinees with baseline IgG antibodies against Zaire Ebolavirus had similar safety profiles to those without detectable antibodies (63.6% vs 66.1% adults experienced any adverse event; 49.1% vs 60.9% in children), with almost all adverse events graded as mild. No serious adverse events were attributed to vaccination. No EVD survivors tested positive for Ebolavirus by RT-PCR. Conclusions: These data add further evidence of rVSV-ZEBOV safety and immunogenicity, including in people with pre-existing antibodies from suspected natural ZEBOV infection whose state does not blunt rVSV-ZEBOV immune response. Pre-vaccination serological screening is not required

Quantifying the value of viral genomics when inferring who infected whom in the 2014–16 Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea

Transmission trees can be established through detailed contact histories, statistical or phylogenetic inference, or a combination of methods. Each approach has its limitations, and the extent to which they succeed in revealing a 'true' transmission history remains unclear. In this study, we compared the transmission trees obtained through contact tracing investigations and various inference methods to identify the contribution and value of each approach. We studied eighty-six sequenced cases reported in Guinea between March and November 2015. Contact tracing investigations classified these cases into eight independent transmission chains. We inferred the transmission history from the genetic sequences of the cases (phylogenetic approach), their onset date (epidemiological approach), and a combination of both (combined approach). The inferred transmission trees were then compared to those from the contact tracing investigations. Inference methods using individual data sources (i.e. the phylogenetic analysis and the epidemiological approach) were insufficiently informative to accurately reconstruct the transmission trees and the direction of transmission. The combined approach was able to identify a reduced pool of infectors for each case and highlight likely connections among chains classified as independent by the contact tracing investigations. Overall, the transmissions identified by the contact tracing investigations agreed with the evolutionary history of the viral genomes, even though some cases appeared to be misclassified. Therefore, collecting genetic sequences during outbreak is key to supplement the information contained in contact tracing investigations. Although none of the methods we used could identify one unique infector per case, the combined approach highlighted the added value of mixing epidemiological and genetic information to reconstruct who infected whom

Electronic Data Management for Vaccine Trials in Low Resource Settings: Upgrades, Scalability, and Impact of ODK

Background: ODK provides software and standards that are popular solutions for off-grid electronic data collection and has substantial code overlap and interoperability with a number of related software products including CommCare, Enketo, Ona, SurveyCTO, and KoBoToolbox. These tools provide open-source options for off-grid use in public health data collection, management, analysis, and reporting. During the 2018–2020 Ebola epidemic in the North Kivu and Ituri regions of Democratic Republic of Congo, we used these tools to support the DRC Ministère de la Santé RDC and World Health Organization in their efforts to administer an experimental vaccine (VSV-Zebov-GP) as part of their strategy to control the transmission of infection. Method: New functions were developed to facilitate the use of ODK, Enketo and R in large scale data collection, aggregation, monitoring, and near-real-time analysis during clinical research in health emergencies. We present enhancements to ODK that include a built-in audit-trail, a framework and companion app for biometric registration of ISO/IEC 19794-2 fingerprint templates, enhanced performance features, better scalability for studies featuring millions of data form submissions, increased options for parallelization of research projects, and pipelines for automated management and analysis of data. We also developed novel encryption protocols for enhanced web-form security in Enketo. Results: Against the backdrop of a complex and challenging epidemic response, our enhanced platform of open tools was used to collect and manage data from more than 280,000 eligible study participants who received VSV-Zebov-GP under informed consent. These data were used to determine whether the VSV-Zebov-GP was safe and effective and to guide daily field operations. Conclusions: We present open-source developments that make electronic data management during clinical research and health emergencies more viable and robust. These developments will also enhance and expand the functionality of a diverse range of data collection platforms that are based on the ODK software and standards

rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination in people with pre-existing immunity to Ebolavirus: an open-label safety and immunogenicity study in Guinean communities affected by Ebola virus disease (l'essai proches).

Zaire Ebolavirus disease (EVD) outbreaks can be controlled using rVSV-ZEBOV vaccination and other public health measures. People in high-risk areas may have pre-existing antibodies from asymptomatic Ebolavirus exposure that might affect response to rVSV-ZEBOV. Therefore, we assessed the impact pre-existing immunity had on post-vaccination IgG titre, virus neutralisation, and reactogenicity following vaccination. In this prospective cohort study, 2115 consenting close contacts ("proches") of EVD survivors were recruited. Proches were vaccinated with rVSV-ZEBOV and followed up for 28 days for safety and immunogenicity. Anti-GP IgG titre at baseline and day 28 was assessed by ELISA. Samples from a representative subset were evaluated using live virus neutralisation. Ten percent were seropositive at baseline. At day 28, IgG in baseline seronegative (GMT 0.106 IU/ml, 95% CI: 0.100 to 0.113) and seropositive (GMT 0.237 IU/ml, 0.210 to 0.267) participants significantly increased from baseline (both p < 0.0001). There was strong correlation between antibody titres and virus neutralisation in day 28 samples (Spearman's rho 0.75). Vaccinees with baseline IgG antibodies against Zaire Ebolavirus had similar safety profiles to those without detectable antibodies (63.6% vs 66.1% adults experienced any adverse event; 49.1% vs 60.9% in children), with almost all adverse events graded as mild. No serious adverse events were attributed to vaccination. No EVD survivors tested positive for Ebolavirus by RT-PCR. These data add further evidence of rVSV-ZEBOV safety and immunogenicity, including in people with pre-existing antibodies from suspected natural ZEBOV infection whose state does not blunt rVSV-ZEBOV immune response. Pre-vaccination serological screening is not required

Enjeux et modalités de la création d'entreprise : une approche du modèle de spin off dans les associations à but non lucratif

The 2014 law on the Social and Solidarity Economy recognized that organizations can adopt entrepreneurial behaviors and economic activities in all areas of human activity. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is presented as a heterogeneous phenomenon that concerns all areas of activity. Entrepreneurship is necessary for political, economic, social and environmental development. Behaviors can be individual or collective and correspond to risk-taking, orientation towards opportunities, initiative-taking and responsibility-taking. Entrepreneurial behavior also appears in a multitude of situations such as business creation, activity creation, swarming, start-up development, and project launching in existing organizations. Among these situations, organizational entrepreneurship, through commercial business creation, could be a relevant response for the associative sector that is currently experiencing difficulties in public financing (Prouteau and Tchernonog, 2017a). Moreover, as Gui (1991) points out, entrepreneurial models adapted to the associative sector exist and allow for the diversification of funding sources. However, engaging in entrepreneurial activities in associations can cause tensions that can jeopardize the progress of entrepreneurial projects. The objective of this research is to analyze the determinants that can favor the success of business creation from an association. Within the theoretical framework of Suchman's (1995) legitimacy, we believe that the project leader can develop assets that will enable stakeholders to adhere to his or her business project. Our research methodology is based on multiple case studies for our analysis. In this case, the project leader's artisanal approach, paternalistic management within the associative, and consolidation of his or her external relationship network could address this issue.La loi de 2014 sur l'économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) a eu pour effet de reconnaître que les organisations du secteur peuvent adopter des comportements entrepreneuriaux et des activités économiques adaptées à tous les domaines de l'activité humaine (Defourny et Nyssens, 2017). De nos jours, l'entrepreneuriat est présenté comme un phénomène hétérogène. Il concerne tous les domaines d'activités. Entreprendre est nécessaire au développement politique, économique, social et environnemental. Les comportements peuvent être individuels ou collectifs. Ils correspondent à des prises de risques, à l'orientation vers des opportunités, à la prise d'initiatives et de responsabilités. Par ailleurs, le comportement entrepreneurial apparaît dans une multitude de situations. Il s'agit de la création d'entreprises, de la création d'activités, de l'essaimage, du développement de start-up, du lancement de projets dans des organisations existantes. Parmi ces situations, l'entrepreneuriat organisationnel, à travers la création d'entreprise commerciale, pourrait être une réponse pertinente pour le secteur associatif qui connaît actuellement des difficultés de financements publics (Prouteau et Tchernonog, 2017a). Par ailleurs, comme le souligne Gui (1991), des modèles entrepreneuriaux adaptés au secteur associatif existent et permettent de compléter et de diversifier leurs sources de financement. Cependant, engager une démarche entrepreneuriale dans les associations peut provoquer des tensions qui peuvent remettre en cause le déroulement des projets entrepreneuriaux. L'objectif de cette recherche est donc d'analyser les déterminants susceptibles de favoriser la réussite de la création d'entreprise à partir d'une association. En s'inscrivant dans le cadre théorique de la légitimité de Suchman (1995), nous pensons que le porteur de projet peut développer des atouts qui vont permettre l'adhésion des parties prenantes à son projet d'entreprise. Notre méthodologie de recherche repose sur l'étude de cas multiples pour notre analyse. En l'occurrence, l'approche artisanale du porteur, son management paternaliste au sein de l'association et la consolidation de son réseau de relations externes pourraient répondre à cette problématique