Molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: successful challenge

COVID-19 has worsened the health situation in Burkina Faso. In fact, the country has known a peak of the second wave, which began in November, and ended around January 2021. Biological diagnosis has played a key role in the management of COVID-19. The aim of this review paper is to address the practical aspects that laboratories have faced in order to meet the challenge of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in Burkina Faso. According to international requirements, Burkina Faso has used real-time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) as the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of COVID-19. From March 9, 2020 to July 31, 2021, in Burkina Faso, laboratories involved in COVID-19 diagnosis analyzed 226,189 samples by molecular tests and 2, 352 samples by rapid antigenic tests, whose peak was in January 2021 with 35,984 samples analyzed. The daily average rate of samples analysis was 456.02 tests. The majority of the individuals requesting COVID-19 tests were travelers (62.00%), followed by contact cases (18.42%), suspected cases (7.95%), voluntary screening (7.57%), and 4.06% of other applicants consisting of health care personnel and at-risk patients. In terms of prevention, vaccines are being administered to the general population. However, some efforts must be made to provide automated sample analysis equipment and complete sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 remains among the challenges

Connaissances, attitudes et pratiques des populations face à la tuberculose dans trois régions du Burkina Faso

Au Burkina Faso, le dépistage précoce des cas de la tuberculose (TB) constitue encore un défi malgré l’implication communautaire dansla lutte contre la maladie depuis 2005. Des connaissances et attitudes adéquates face à la tuberculose devraient contribuer à améliorer la détection des cas. L’objectif de notre travail était de décrire les connaissances, attitudes et pratiques des communautésface à la tuberculose. Nous avonsréalisé une analyse des données d’enquête transversale menée en 2012 dans trois régions du Burkina Faso. Les participants ont été choisis selon un échantillonnage en grappe. Nous avons identifié les facteurs associés à la connaissance à partir d’une régression de Cox. Au total 2 261 individus ont été enquêtés. Le sexe féminin était majoritaire (56,2 %). Plus de 85 % des enquêtés ont déclaré avoir déjà entendu parler de la TB. Un tiers (30,4 %) de la population a une bonne connaissance de la tuberculose. Lesfacteurs associés à la connaissance sur la tuberculose sont : le sexe, l’âge, le niveau d’instruction et le lieu de résidence. Pour plus de 96 % de la population enquêtée, le centre de santé est le premier recours en cas de suspicion de symptômes de la tuberculose. Le niveau global de la connaissance de la TB reste faible dansla population générale au Burkina Faso. L’amélioration de la connaissance sur la TB tenant compte des disparités identifiées dans cette étude est nécessaire pour l’atteinte des objectifs en matière de lutte contre la TB au Burkina Faso. Mots-clés : tuberculose, connaissance, pratique, Cox, Burkina Faso.   English Title: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to TB among the general population of three regions of Burkina FasoIn Burkina Faso, early detection of tuberculosis(TB) casesremain a challenge despite community involvement in the fight against the disease since 2005. Adequate knowledge and attitudes related to tuberculosis should help improve case detection. The aim of our study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of communities regarding tuberculosis. We performed an analysis of cross-sectional survey data conductedin 2012 in three regions of Burkina Faso. To select participants, we carried out a three-stage clustersampling. We identified the TB related knowledge associated factorsthrough a Cox regression. A total, 2261 individuals were surveyed. The female was in the majority (56.2 %). Over 85 % of those surveyed said they had heard from TB before. One-third (30.4 %) of the population has a good knowledge of tuberculosis. Factors associated with TB-related knowledge are gender, age, education, and place of residence. For more than 96 % of the population surveyed, the health center is the first resort in case of suspected symptoms of tuberculosis. The overall level of knowledge of TB remainslow in the general population in Burkina Faso. Improving knowledge about TB taking into account the disparities identified in this study is necessary for reaching national goals in Burkina Faso. Keywords: Tuberculosis, knowledge, practices, Cox, Burkina Fas