Infection par le VIH chez les patientes atteintes de cancer du sein en Guinée (Afrique de l’Ouest)

L'objectif était de déterminer la prévalence de l'infection à VIH chez les patientes atteintes de cancer du sein et de comparer les caractéristiques anatomocliques et thérapeutiques de ces cancers du sein par rapports aux patientes non infectées par le VIH. Il s'agissait d'une étude rétrospective et analytique comparant les dossiers de patientes atteintes de cancers du sein histologiquement confirmés, infectées ou non par le VIH à l'unité de chirurgie oncologique de Donka, CHU de Conakry, de 2007 à 2012. Nous avons colligé 278 patientes présentant un cancer du sein dont 14 (5,0%) infectées par le VIH et 264 (95,0%) non infectées par le VIH. Les différences observées entre ces deux groupes de patientes étaient respectivement: âge médian (36,8 vs 49,0 ans), la ménopause (21,4% vs 53,4%), le nombre des patientes traitées (50,0% contre 77,1%) et la survenue de décès (78,6% vs 50,8%). Aucune différence n'a été notée dans la présentation clinique, histologique et le retard de consultation. Dans notre étude, la prévalence de l'infection à VIH chez les patients atteints de cancer du sein est élevée. L'âge jeune des patients, la faible accessibilité au traitement et la mortalité élevée doivent être confirmés par une étude sur un échantillon plus large

Land use/cover spatiotemporal dynamics, and implications on environmental and bioclimatic factors in Chingola district, Zambia

This study uses remote sensing and GIS techniques to examine the intensity and dynamics of land use/cover change and environmental indices across a four-decade period in the Chingola district of Zambia, from 1972 to 2020 using five classification stages (1972, 1992, 2001, 2013, and 2020). A total of 10 key climate change detection monitoring indices were generated using RClimDex to examine the implications of land degradation on the bioclimatic factors from 1983 to 2020. The findings revealed a significant expansion in Built-ups (7.3%/year), farmlands (3.18%/year), and mining areas (0.82%/year) at the expense of natural resources. The highest human pressure was exerted on Savannah woodlands (−0.78), through agriculture (0.76) and infrastructure development (0.44) between 1992 and 2001.The analysis of the bioclimatic indices revealed a significant decline in rainfall quantity and intensity, and a rising in temperature (warmer days and nights). The Annual rainfall has decreased by −3.25%, while the potential evapotranspiration has increased by 0.04% from 1983 to 2020, resulting in an Aridity Index of 0.60 and a moisture deficit index of −0.42. To offset agriculture’s propensity to spatially expand and further encroach into savannah woodlands and forests, urban containment policies and programs that stimulate agricultural intensification are needed to reduce urban sprawl and protect the city’s remaining forestlands.The World Bank financially supported this research through the African Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Mining (ACESM) Scholarship program of Copperbelt University.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tgnh20hj2023Plant Production and Soil Scienc

Resurgence of Ebola virus in 2021 in Guinea suggests a new paradigm for outbreaks

These authors contributed equally: Alpha K. Keita, Fara R. Koundouno, Martin Faye, Ariane Düx, Julia Hinzmann.International audienc

Case Report: COVID-19 and Lassa Fever Coinfection in an Ebola Suspected Patient in Guinea

ABSTRACT. In this case report, we describe a clinical presentation and therapeutic history of a unique case diagnosed with Lassa fever and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a 23-year-old man from Yomou prefecture in southeast Guinea identified with suspected Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the midst of an ongoing outbreak of that disease in the same region. On May 3, 2021, he was admitted to the Nzérékoré Epidemic disease treatment center where his clinical condition deteriorated significantly. Laboratory testing performed on the same day reveals a negative EVD polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Three days later, the patient was tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and Lassa fever by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) assays. Laboratory examination also indicated severe hematological and biochemical deteriorations in the patient. This case substantiates the need for systematic differential diagnosis during epidemic-prone disease outbreaks to better manage severely unwell patients.</jats:p

Association of C-reactive protein with bacterial and respiratory syncytial virus-associated pneumonia among children aged <5 years in the PERCH study

Background. Lack of a gold standard for identifying bacterial and viral etiologies of pneumonia has limited evaluation of C-reactive protein (CRP) for identifying bacterial pneumonia. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of CRP for identifying bacterial vs respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia in the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) multicenter case-control study. Methods. We measured serum CRP levels in cases with World Health Organization-defined severe or very severe pneumonia and a subset of community controls. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of elevated CRP for "confirmed" bacterial pneumonia (positive blood culture or positive lung aspirate or pleural fluid culture or polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) compared to "RSV pneumonia" (nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal or induced sputum PCR-positive without confirmed/suspected bacterial pneumonia). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to assess the performance of elevated CRP in distinguishing these cases. Results. Among 601 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative tested controls, 3% had CRP ≥40 mg/L. Among 119 HIVnegative cases with confirmed bacterial pneumonia, 77% had CRP ≥40 mg/L compared with 17% of 556 RSV pneumonia cases. The ROC analysis produced an area under the curve of 0.87, indicating very good discrimination; a cut-point of 37.1 mg/L best discriminated confirmed bacterial pneumonia (sensitivity 77%) from RSV pneumonia (specificity 82%). CRP ≥100 mg/L substantially improved specificity over CRP ≥40 mg/L, though at a loss to sensitivity. Conclusions. Elevated CRP was positively associated with confirmed bacterial pneumonia and negatively associated with RSV pneumonia in PERCH. CRP may be useful for distinguishing bacterial from RSV-associated pneumonia, although its role in discriminating against other respiratory viral-associated pneumonia needs further study

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

An exceptional case of bilateral gestational gigantomastia with multiple breast lumps

Bilateral gigantomastia is a rare condition, often associated with pregnancy that is characterized by a diffuse enlargement of both breasts. Here we present a case of a late 20s woman in her seven months pregnancy with a bilateral gestational gigantomastia associated with multiple breast lumps. Histological analysis revealed a fibroadenoma. Her prolactin level after caesarean delivery was found particularly high. A significant decrease in breast size was achieved with bromocriptine treatment in conjunction with a bilateral lumpectomy. This case report highlights the diversity of gigantomastia and emphasizes the importance of a tailored, multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of this condition