Bio-behavioural HIV survey in prisons on men and women in Burkina Faso.

BackgroundDespite the severity of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Burkina Faso, data on specific groups are scant especially concerning prisoners. AimsThe objective of this study was to determine HIV prevalence and risky behavior in Burkina Faso prisons in order to assist in HIV prevention and AIDS case management decision making among prisoners. Methods This was a cross-sectional study carried out from September 3–10, 2014 among 18 years aged and over prisoners, in prisons of each of the 13 administrative regions of Burkina Faso with prisoners’ informed consent. Data were collected using a questionnaire that covered general informations on HIV/autoimmune insufficiency syndrome (AIDS) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), coupled with blood samples collection, for HIV laboratory analysis purpose.Results A total of 1,079 prisoners participated in this study. The participation rate for interviews was and blood samples collections were 100 per cent. The majority of participants (97.8 per cent) were men, among whom 9.7 per cent reported a history of STIs. Nearly 50 per cent of these took no precautions to avoid infecting their sexual partners. Implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities in prisons was low (43.2 per cent). Condom use was also low (11.2 per cent). HIV infection Screening was insufficient: only two out of five prisoners had at least one HIV screening. HIV screening opportunities was uncommon and prisoners pointed out the lack of organization of screening campaigns in prisons. HIV prevalence was nearly 3 per cent. ConclusionThe exposure level of prisoners to HIV transmission prevention interventions was low. Specific measures are needed to increase condom use for HIV/AIDS and STIs prevention in prisons

Baseline Meningococcal Carriage in Burkina Faso before the Introduction of a Meningococcal Serogroup A Conjugate Vaccine▿

The serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine MenAfriVac has the potential to confer herd immunity by reducing carriage prevalence of epidemic strains. To better understand this phenomenon, we initiated a meningococcal carriage study to determine the baseline carriage rate and serogroup distribution before vaccine introduction in the 1- to 29-year old population in Burkina Faso, the group chosen for the first introduction of the vaccine. A multiple cross-sectional carriage study was conducted in one urban and two rural districts in Burkina Faso in 2009. Every 3 months, oropharyngeal samples were collected from >5,000 randomly selected individuals within a 4-week period. Isolation and identification of the meningococci from 20,326 samples were performed by national laboratories in Burkina Faso. Confirmation and further strain characterization, including genogrouping, multilocus sequence typing, and porA-fetA sequencing, were performed in Norway. The overall carriage prevalence for meningococci was 3.98%; the highest prevalence was among the 15- to 19-year-olds for males and among the 10- to 14-year-olds for females. Serogroup Y dominated (2.28%), followed by serogroups X (0.44%), A (0.39%), and W135 (0.34%). Carriage prevalence was the highest in the rural districts and in the dry season, but serogroup distribution also varied by district. A total of 29 sequence types (STs) and 51 porA-fetA combinations were identified. The dominant clone was serogroup Y, ST-4375, P1.5-1,2-2/F5-8, belonging to the ST-23 complex (47%). All serogroup A isolates were ST-2859 of the ST-5 complex with P1.20,9/F3-1. This study forms a solid basis for evaluating the impact of MenAfriVac introduction on serogroup A carriage