Discrepant Prevalence and Incidence of Leishmania Infection between Two Neighboring Villages in Central Mali Based on Leishmanin Skin Test Surveys

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected sand fly. Leishmaniasis is present in more than 88 countries and affects more than 12 million people. Depending on the species of Leishmania, the host can develop cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), which is characterized by skin ulcers in uncovered parts of the body or a more severe form, visceral leishmaniasis, which affects the liver and spleen and is fatal if not treated. This study aims to establish the past and present infection with Leishmania parasites in two villages where recent cases have been diagnosed by the dermatology center (CNAM) in Bamako. This was achieved using a Leishmania-specific skin test that was administered annually to permanent residents of Kemena and Sougoula villages from 2006 to 2008. The results show that transmission of Leishmania is active and stable in these two villages. Moreover, despite sharing similar cultural and environmental features, the individuals from Kemena presented three times the risk of Leishmania infection compared with those from Sougoula. Our findings raise awareness of the continued presence of CL in Mali

IRGAN : cGAN-based Indoor Radio Map Prediction

International audience<div style=""&gt<font face="arial, helvetica"&gt<span style="font-size: 13px;"&gtRadio map or radio coverage prediction in indoor&nbsp;</span&gt</font&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtand outdoor remains a challenge of great interest due to the large&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtnumber of applications it allows. Many techniques such as datadriven&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtinterpolation methods, model-based data fitting methods,&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtmodel-based prediction methods exist. However, each of them&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gthas their limitations (computation time, accuracy, level of input&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtinformation required, generalization to different environments).&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtAlso indoors seems less studied than outdoors.</span&gt</div&gt<div style=""&gt<font face="arial, helvetica"&gt<span style="font-size: 13px;"&gtIn this paper, a multi-material model and its enhanced version&nbsp;</span&gt</font&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtboosted by attention mechanism for indoor radio map prediction&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtare introduced. The proposed models are based on conditional&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtGenerative Adversarial Networks (cGANs) and take floor plan&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtimages as input. We also propose a new method for floor plan images&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtpreprocessing by segmentation to characterize the materials&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtin the environment of interest, which alleviates user’s effort. The&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtvalidity and efficiency of our method in generating high quality&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtradio maps in different environments and its ability to consider&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtthe electromagnetic properties of materials are verified on two&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtsimulated datasets. Numerical results show that our approach&nbsp;</span&gt<span style="font-size: 13px; font-family: arial, helvetica;"&gtoutperforms state of the art methods.</span&gt</div&g

In vivo efficacy and parasite clearance of artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine versus artemether-lumefantrine in Mali

International audienceAlthough artemisinin resistance has yet to be reported in Africa, surveillance of the efficacy of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) is warranted. Here, the efficacy of artesunate + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (AS+SP) and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) was evaluated in Mali. Randomized open-label comparative in vivo assay of AS+SP versus AL were carried out using the 28-day follow-up World Health Organization protocol. Patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria and at least 6 months of age were recruited between October 2010 and January 2014. A subset of these patients was selected to measure Plasmodium falciparum clearance time. Polymerase chain reaction corrected adequate clinical and parasitological responses were 100% for AS+SP and 98.2% for AL with no significant difference (P = 0.06). The reinfection rates were comparable (P = 0.63) with 8.0% for AS+SP and 12.6% for AL. Individuals under 8 years were more susceptible to treatment failure (relative risk = 1.9; 95% confidence interval = 1.2, 3.3). Median parasite clearance half-life was 1.7 hours (interquartile range [IQR] = 1.3-2.2) for AS+SP and 1.9 hours (IQR = 1.5-2.5) for AL with no statistically significant difference (P = 0.24). Efficacy of AS+SP and AL was high. This study provides baseline information on parasite clearance half-lives after ACT treatment, particularly AS+SP, in Mali

ULTRASOUND IN THE ETIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF HEMORRHAGES DURING THE 3RD TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY AT THE FERTILIA MEDICAL CLINIC IN BAMAKO

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Haemorrhage in the third trimester of pregnancy is a major public health problem because it can jeopardize the vital prognosis of the mother and the fetus. The objective of our study was to study the sonographic etiologies of hemorrhages in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Subjects and Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;This was a 5-year cross-sectional and prospective study, between JUNE 2017 and MAY 2022, which involved 82 pregnant women who were between 28 and 40 weeks of amenorrhea (SA) and who presented with hemorrhage regardless of its volume. The data collected was obtained on the ultrasound reports and a series of questions asked either of the patient or her companions. Data were entered and analyzed on SPSS version 26.0.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;In our study, we performed 12,900 obstetrical ultrasounds, of which 82 women had hemorrhage, i.e. a frequency of 0.63%. The average age was 29 years with extremes ranging from 17 to 43 years. 39 patients or 47.5% were between 20 and 30 years old. 42 patients or 51% were multi gestures. 51 patients or 62% were multiparous. The clinical information prompting an ultrasound was abdominal pain + metrorrhagia in 58.5% of cases. 70.7% were between 37 SA and 42 SA. The sonographic etiologies were retroplacental hematoma (HRP) with 56% placenta previa (33%), placenta previa+HRP (2.2%) and uterine rupture (1.8%).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion : &lt;/strong&gt;Faced with the occurrence of metrorrhagia in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, it is always necessary to think of the most serious etiologies, which are ultimately not so rare and can jeopardize the vital prognosis of the mother and the child. A targeted questioning and a concise clinical examination make it possible to quickly orient towards an etiology. Ultrasound is an invaluable diagnostic and prognostic aid. The speed of emergency care can sometimes save the child, most often the mother.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt

Avenir du fleuve Niger

Le fleuve Niger constitue un véritable poumon humide pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest et plus spécialement pour la république du Mali. Dans ce pays, la gestion du fleuve constitue un enjeu majeur car on y trouve à la fois de remarquables systèmes de production traditionnels associés au phénomène naturel de crue – sources de moyens d’existence pour des centaines de milliers de personnes – mais aussi de grandes réalisations et promesses en matière d’aménagements modernes, hydroélectriques et hydroagricoles. À l’heure où de nouveaux projets d’équipement arrivent à concrétisation et où d’autres sont annoncés, il est important de faire le point sur l’état de santé de ce fleuve et de peser ce qu’il représente pour ses multiples usagers. Cette expertise collégiale, conduite par l’IRD et l’IER et réalisée avec le soutien de plusieurs institutions d’aide au développement et de défense de l’environnement, traite de ces différents aspects avec pour objectif, d’une part, la clarification des cadres institutionnels et des options de politiques publiques et, d’autre part, le renforcement des outils de suivi et d’aide à la décision.The Niger river is truly the main source of life for Western Africa, more specifically for the Republic of Mali. In the country, management of the river is a key topic, as one can find at the same time remarkable traditional production systems associated with the floods which supply hundreds thousands of people – but also great projects which promise modern installations, hydroelectrical and hydroagricultural systems. As new projects come to their end and others begin, it seems important to make a point regarding the health of the river and to evaluate what it represents for its diverse users, civil society or for the economy of Mali. This is the aim of this expert group review, led by the IRD and the IER, with the support of different development and nature protection institutes. Complementarities as well as oppositions that appear from the interactions between the river’s users are described. For the decision-makers in charge of those problems, different recommendations are made, aiming on one hand to clarify institutional frameworks and policy options, and on the other hand to reinforce management and decision-making tools