Rapid urban malaria appraisal (RUMA) I: Epidemiology of urban malaria in Ouagadougou

BACKGROUND: Rapid urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa has a major impact on malaria epidemiology. While much is known about malaria in rural areas in Burkina Faso, the urban situation is less well understood. METHODS: An assessment of urban malaria was carried out in Ouagadougou in November -December, 2002 during which a rapid urban malaria appraisal (RUMA) was applied. RESULTS: The school parasitaemia prevalence was relatively high (48.3%) at the cold and dry season 2002. Routine malaria statistics indicated that seasonality of malaria transmission was marked. In the health facilities, the number of clinical cases diminished quickly at the start of the cold and dry season and the prevalence of parasitaemia detected in febrile and non-febrile cases was 21.1% and 22.0%, respectively. The health facilities were likely to overestimate the malaria incidence and the age-specific fractions of malaria-attributable fevers were low (0–0.13). Peak prevalence tended to occur in older children (aged 6–15 years). Mapping of Anopheles sp. breeding sites indicated a gradient of endemicity between the urban centre and the periphery of Ouagadougou. A remarkable link was found between urban agriculture activities, seasonal availability of water supply and the occurrence of malaria infections in this semi-arid area. The study also demonstrated that the usage of insecticide-treated nets and the education level of family caretakers played a key role in reducing malaria infection rates. CONCLUSION: These findings show that determining local endemicity and the rate of clinical malaria cases are urgently required in order to target control activities and avoid over-treatment with antimalarials. The case management needs to be tailored to the level of the prevailing endemicity

Implementation of Home based management of malaria in children reduces the work load for peripheral health facilities in a rural district of Burkina Faso

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Home Management of Malaria (HMM) is one of the key strategies to reduce the burden of malaria for vulnerable population in endemic countries. It is based on the evidence that well-trained communities health workers can provide prompt and adequate care to patients close to their homes. The strategy has been shown to reduce malaria mortality and severe morbidity and has been adopted by the World Health Organization as a cornerstone of malaria control in Africa. However, the potential fall-out of this community-based strategy on the work burden at the peripheral health facilities level has never been investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A two-arm interventional study was conducted in a rural health district of Burkina Faso. The HMM strategy has been implemented in seven community clinics catchment's area (intervention arm). For the other seven community clinics in the control arm, no HMM intervention was implemented. In each of the study arms, presumptive treatment was provided for episodes of fevers/malaria (defined operationally as malaria).</p> <p>The study drug was artemether-lumefantrine, which was sold at a subsidized price by community health workers/Key opinion leaders at the community level and by the pharmacists at the health facility level.</p> <p>The outcome measured was the proportion of malaria cases among all health facility attendance (all causes diseases) in both arms throughout the high transmission season.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 7,621 children were enrolled in the intervention arm and 7,605 in the control arm. During the study period, the proportions of malaria cases among all health facility attendance (all causes diseases) were 21.0%, (445/2,111, 95% CI [19.3%–22.7%]) and 70.7% (2,595/3,671, 95% CI 68.5%–71.5%), respectively in the intervention and control arms (p << 0.0001). The relative risk ratio for a fever/malaria episode to be treated at the HF level was 30% (0.30 < RR < 0.32).</p> <p>The number of malaria episodes treated in the intervention arm was much higher than in the control arm (6,661 vs. 2,595), with malaria accounting for 87.4% of all disease episodes recorded in the intervention area and for 34.1% in the control area (P < 0.0001). Of all the malaria cases treated in the intervention arm, only 6.7% were treated at the health facility level.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings suggest that implementation of HMM, by reducing the workload in health facilities, might contributes to an overall increase of the performance of the peripheral health facilities.</p

Development of new strategies for the analysis of valvular trauma on percutaneous bioprostheses

Le remplacement valvulaire aortique percutané (TAVI) est une thérapie qui s’impose de plus en plus chez les patients porteurs d’une sténose aortique sévère. Toutefois, un nombre croissant d’études démontre que l’utilisation, crimping (sertissage) et déploiement, de ces bioprothèses est induit une altération de la structure de leurs feuillets péricardiques. Ce qui soulève la question de la durabilité à long-terme de ces dispositifs.Dans les travaux de cette thèse, nous avons développé des outils permettant d’analyser le traumatisme subi par les feuillets de péricardes.La première stratégie visait à déterminer les différences de comportements des péricardes bovins et porcins en matière de diffusion vis à vis de différents solutés. Nous avons pu mettre en évidence que la perméabilité du péricarde porcin était plus élevée (en moyenne 5-fois) et plus hétérogène comparativement à celle du péricarde bovin. La seconde stratégie consistait à caractériser, à l’aide des outils développés, les lésions traumatiques induites lors du déploiement des prothèses auto-expansible ou déployable par inflation d’un ballon. Quelque soit le type de prothèses utilisées, une altération de la perméabilité membranaire des péricardes a été observée après leurs déploiements.La dernière stratégie était de déterminer si le crimping de bioprothèses auto-expansibles pouvait entrainer une calcification plus importante des feuillets péricardiques. Un modèle d’évaluation de la calcification in-vivo chez le lapin a été utilisé. Cette étude à permis d’observer que le taux de calcium ainsi que la minéralisation du péricarde n’étaient pas affectées par le crimping.Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a growing therapy indicated to treat severe aortic valve stenosis. However, an increasing number of studies demonstrated that crimping and deployment of these bioprostheses induce structural alterations of the pericardial leaflets. These observations raise interrogations concerning the long-term durability of these devices.In this thesis works, we developed tools to analyze pericardial leaflets injuries.The first strategy consisted to determine the differences between bovine and porcine pericardium toward the filtration of various solute.It was possible to observe that porcine pericardium hydraulic conductance was higher (5-folds) and more heterogeneous than bovine pericardium.The second strategy consisted to characterize the lesions induced by deployment of self and balloon expandable valved-stents.After deployment, both types of valved-stents showed an alteration of their pericardial hydraulic conductance.The last strategy was to determine if self-expandable valved-stents crimping could increase their pericardial leaflets calcification. The rabbit model was used as an in-vivo evaluation model.This study showed that the calcium concentration and the mineralization of their pericardial leaflets were unaffected by valved-stents crimping

Mise au point de nouvelles méthodes d’analyse du traumatisme valvulaire des bioprothèses percutanées

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a growing therapy indicated to treat severe aortic valve stenosis. However, an increasing number of studies demonstrated that crimping and deployment of these bioprostheses induce structural alterations of the pericardial leaflets. These observations raise interrogations concerning the long-term durability of these devices.In this thesis works, we developed tools to analyze pericardial leaflets injuries.The first strategy consisted to determine the differences between bovine and porcine pericardium toward the filtration of various solute.It was possible to observe that porcine pericardium hydraulic conductance was higher (5-folds) and more heterogeneous than bovine pericardium.The second strategy consisted to characterize the lesions induced by deployment of self and balloon expandable valved-stents.After deployment, both types of valved-stents showed an alteration of their pericardial hydraulic conductance.The last strategy was to determine if self-expandable valved-stents crimping could increase their pericardial leaflets calcification. The rabbit model was used as an in-vivo evaluation model.This study showed that the calcium concentration and the mineralization of their pericardial leaflets were unaffected by valved-stents crimping.Le remplacement valvulaire aortique percutané (TAVI) est une thérapie qui s’impose de plus en plus chez les patients porteurs d’une sténose aortique sévère. Toutefois, un nombre croissant d’études démontre que l’utilisation, crimping (sertissage) et déploiement, de ces bioprothèses est induit une altération de la structure de leurs feuillets péricardiques. Ce qui soulève la question de la durabilité à long-terme de ces dispositifs.Dans les travaux de cette thèse, nous avons développé des outils permettant d’analyser le traumatisme subi par les feuillets de péricardes.La première stratégie visait à déterminer les différences de comportements des péricardes bovins et porcins en matière de diffusion vis à vis de différents solutés. Nous avons pu mettre en évidence que la perméabilité du péricarde porcin était plus élevée (en moyenne 5-fois) et plus hétérogène comparativement à celle du péricarde bovin. La seconde stratégie consistait à caractériser, à l’aide des outils développés, les lésions traumatiques induites lors du déploiement des prothèses auto-expansible ou déployable par inflation d’un ballon. Quelque soit le type de prothèses utilisées, une altération de la perméabilité membranaire des péricardes a été observée après leurs déploiements.La dernière stratégie était de déterminer si le crimping de bioprothèses auto-expansibles pouvait entrainer une calcification plus importante des feuillets péricardiques. Un modèle d’évaluation de la calcification in-vivo chez le lapin a été utilisé. Cette étude à permis d’observer que le taux de calcium ainsi que la minéralisation du péricarde n’étaient pas affectées par le crimping

Early treatment of childhood fevers with pre-packaged antimalarial drugs in the home reduces severe malaria morbidity in Burkina Faso.

In rural, malaria-endemic Burkina Faso, we evaluated the impact of the use of pre-packaged antimalarial drugs (PPAM), by mothers in the home, on the progression of disease in children from uncomplicated fever to severe malaria. In each village of one province, a core group of opinion leaders (mainly older mothers) was trained in the management of uncomplicated malaria, including the administration of PPAM. Full courses of antimalarial (chloroquine) and antipyretic (aspirin) drugs were packaged in age-specific bags and made widely available through community health workers who were supplied through the existing drug distribution system. Drugs were sold under a cost-recovery scheme. Local schoolteachers conducted surveys in a random sample of 32 villages at the end of the high transmission seasons in 1998 and 1999. Disease history and the treatment received were investigated for all children under the age of 6 years having suffered from a fever episode in the previous 4 weeks. 'Uncomplicated malaria' was defined as every episode of fever and 'severe malaria' as every episode of fever followed by convulsions or loss of consciousness. During the study period, 56%[95% confidence interval (CI) 50-62%] of 3202 fever episodes in children under 6 years of age were treated promptly by mothers with the pre-packaged drugs made available by the study. A total of 59% of children receiving PPAM were reported to have received the drugs over the prescribed 3-day period, while 52% received the correct age-specific dose. PPAM use was similar among literate (61%) and non-literate mothers (55%) (P = 0.08). The overall reported risk of developing severe malaria was 8%. This risk was lower in children treated with PPAM (5%) than in children not treated with PPAM (11%) (risk ratio = 0.47; 95% CI 0.37, 0.60; P < 0.0001). This estimate of the impact of PPAM was largely unchanged when account was taken of potential confounding by age, sex, maternal literacy status, year or village. Our findings support the view that, after appropriate training and with adequately packaged drugs made available, mothers can recognize and treat promptly and correctly malarial episodes in their children and, by doing so, reduce the incidence of severe disease

Corrélation entre les altérations structurales et la thrombogénicité aiguë des valves percutanées en péricarde après sertissage et expansion

INTRODUCTION : Transcathether heart valve replacement has gained considerable acceptance during the last decades. It is now part of the armamentarium for aortic valve replacement. The procedure proved to be highly efficient. However the issues of the blood compatibility and tissue durability were not raised and the adverse events were probably under-reported, according to observations of thrombosis after deployment. MATERIAL AND METHOD : Bovine pericardium leaflets were sewn inside a 26mm diameter stainless steel stent to manufacture these valves (one control and two experimental). The correlation between the trauma and the acute thombogenicity of bovine pericardium leaflets, after crimping and ballooning, was investigated via an in vitro blood flow with labeled platelets. These leaflets were processed for histology: scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS : The control specimens showed a regular pericardium structure with some blood cells deposited on the collagen fibrous surface (inflow) and scarce blood cells deposited on the serous surface (outflow). After crimping and ballooning, the structure of the pericardium was severely injured, eventually with delaminations and ruptures. The blood cell uptake was considerably increased compared to the control. CONCLUSION : It would therefore be appropriate to pay more attention to the design of the valves. Specifically, the incorporation of a buffer tissue or fabric between the pericardium and the metallic stent is suggested. The issue of ballooning deserves detailed and in depth investigation regarding the lifetime of the device.INTRODUCTION : Le remplacement percutané de valves cardiaques s’est imposé au cours des dernières décennies. Ce type d’implant est maintenant accepté pour le remplacement des valves aortiques. Cette intervention a démontré son efficacité, cependant la compatibilité sanguine à long terme demeure incertaine et les complications évolutives sont vraisemblablement sous-évaluées, notamment les thromboses après déploiement. MATÉRIEL ET MÉTHODE : Des feuillets de péricarde bovin ont été suturés à l’intérieur d’une endoprothèse en acier inoxydable de 26 mm de diamètre, pour fabriquer 3 valves (1 contrôle et 2 expérimentales). La corrélation entre les lésions et la thrombogénicité aiguë des feuillets de péricarde bovin a été évaluée. Après sertissage et expansion, les feuillets furent investigués dans un circuit sanguin in vitro avec des plaquettes marquées. Les feuillets furent ensuite examinés au plan histologique : microscopie électronique à balayage, microscopie optique et microscopie électronique à transmission. RÉSULTATS : Les feuillets de référence présentaient une structure régulière de péricarde avec quelques cellules sanguines retenues sur la surface fibreuse (côté de l’afflux sanguin), et plus rares sur la surface séreuse (côté de l’éjection). Après sertissage et expansion, la structure du péricarde était sévèrement endommagée, avec des délaminations occasionnelles et des fractures. La rétention d’éléments cellulaires était considérable par rapport aux feuillets de référence. CONCLUSION : Il serait souhaitable d’accorder davantage d’attention au design des valves. Plus spécifiquement, l’incorporation d’un coupon textile entre le péricarde et le stent métallique est suggérée. L’expansion à l’aide d’un ballon requiert des analyses détaillées du traumatisme susceptible de remettre en cause la biofonctionalité des implants