Informing children citizens efficiently to better engage them in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic

International audienceSince the beginning of the year, the world's attention has rightly been focused on the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the implementation of drastic mitigation strategies to limit disease transmission. However, public health information campaigns tailored to children are very rare. Now more than ever, at a time when some governments are taking populations out of lockdown and youth are returning to schools, children around the world need to fully grasp the modes of transmission of the disease, the health risks, the scientific notions of the immune system, the value of barrier measures, and the progress of scientific research. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, comics can be very useful for communicating quickly and effectively abstract and important information to children who might be under the influence of a large amount of sometimes contradictory information. Conveying precise, reliable, and accessible information to children is key in a world overwhelmingly impacted by the outbreak. This should be the role and the responsibility of world health official leaders and governments in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In partnership with mainstream medias, consortia of scientists, communication experts, and education specialists, it is urgent that world leaders engage children in this worldwide public health fight

Paludisme en Guyane : des projets de recherche opérationnelle originaux s'appuyant sur la santé communautaire

International audienceno abstrac

Paludisme en Guyane : des projets de recherche opérationnelle originaux s'appuyant sur la santé communautaire

International audienceno abstrac

Paludisme en Guyane : des projets de recherche opérationnelle originaux s'appuyant sur la santé communautaire

International audienceno abstrac

Mafa-dependent GABAergic activity promotes mouse neonatal apneas

International audienceAbstract While apneas are associated with multiple pathological and fatal conditions, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We report that a mutated form of the transcription factor Mafa (Mafa 4A ) that prevents phosphorylation of the Mafa protein leads to an abnormally high incidence of breath holding apneas and death in newborn Mafa 4A/4A mutant mice. This apneic breathing is phenocopied by restricting the mutation to central GABAergic inhibitory neurons and by activation of inhibitory Mafa neurons while reversed by inhibiting GABAergic transmission centrally. We find that Mafa activates the Gad2 promoter in vitro and that this activation is enhanced by the mutation that likely results in increased inhibitory drives onto target neurons. We also find that Mafa inhibitory neurons are absent from respiratory, sensory (primary and secondary) and pontine structures but are present in the vicinity of the hypoglossal motor nucleus including premotor neurons that innervate the geniohyoid muscle, to control upper airway patency. Altogether, our data reveal a role for Mafa phosphorylation in regulation of GABAergic drives and suggest a mechanism whereby reduced premotor drives to upper airway muscles may cause apneic breathing at birth

JMIR Res Protoc

BACKGROUND: Children's mental health is a public health priority, with 1 in 5 European children younger than 12 years having a behavioral, developmental, or psychological disorder. Mental health literacy (MHL) is a modifiable determinant of mental health, promoting psychological well-being and reducing mental health problems. Despite its significance, no interventions or scales currently exist for increasing and measuring MHL in this population. OBJECTIVE: This study has dual objectives: (1) cocreating and evaluating an intervention on children's MHL, and (2) developing and validating a scale that measures children's MHL. METHODS: Our study focuses on children aged 9-11 years attending primary school classes in various settings, including urban and rural areas, and priority education zones within a French department. Using a participatory research approach, we will conduct workshops involving children, parents, teachers, and 1 artist to cocreate an intervention comprising multiple tools (eg, a pedagogical kit and videos). This intervention will undergo initial evaluation in 4 classes through observations, interviews, and satisfaction questionnaires to assess its viability. Concurrently, the artist will collaborate with children to create the initial version of the CHILD-MHL scale, which will then be administered to 300 children. Psychometric analyses will validate the scale. Subsequently, we will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial involving a minimum of 20 classes, using the CHILD-MHL scale scores as the primary end point to evaluate the intervention's efficacy. Additional interviews will complement this mixed methods evaluation. Both the intervention and the scale are grounded in the Child-Focused MHL model. RESULTS: The first tool of the intervention is the pedagogical kit Le Jardin du Dedans, supported by the public organization Psycom Sante Mentale Info and endorsed by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) France. The second tool is a handbook by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, which is addressed to teachers to sensitize them to children's mental health problems. The third is a 5-page supplementary leaflet produced by the nongovernmental organization The Ink Link, which teaches children the notion of MHL. Finally, we produced 56 items of the MHL Scale and listed existing education policies for children's mental health. CONCLUSIONS: After its robust evaluation, the intervention could be extended to several schools in France. The scale will be the first in the world to measure children's MHL. It will be used not only to evaluate interventions but also to provide data for decision makers to include MHL in all educational policies. Both the intervention and the scale could be translated into other languages. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/51096

Malakit: an innovative pilot project to self-diagnose and self-treat malaria among illegal gold miners in the Guiana Shield

Submitted by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-02-14T12:39:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 martasuarez_mutis_etal_IOC_2018.pdf: 1670835 bytes, checksum: fce688cd775b99c4574fec6e1d7bdc7a (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-02-14T12:50:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 martasuarez_mutis_etal_IOC_2018.pdf: 1670835 bytes, checksum: fce688cd775b99c4574fec6e1d7bdc7a (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-02-14T12:50:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 martasuarez_mutis_etal_IOC_2018.pdf: 1670835 bytes, checksum: fce688cd775b99c4574fec6e1d7bdc7a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018Centre d’Investigation Clinique Antilles-Guyane (Inserm 1424). Cayenne Hospital, Cayenne, French Guiana.Health Regional Agency, Cayenne. French Guiana, France.Centre d’Investigation Clinique Antilles-Guyane (Inserm 1424). Cayenne Hospital, Cayenne, French Guiana.Institut Pasteur de la Guyane. Centre National de Référence du Paludisme. Laboratoire de Parasitologie. Cayenne, French Guiana.French Armed Forces Center for Epidemiology and Public Health (CESPA). Camp Militaire de Sainte Marthe. Marseille, France / IRD, AP‑HM, VITROME, SSA, IHU‑Méditerranée Infection, Aix Marseille Univ. Marseille, France.Ministério da Saúde. Programa Nacional de Controle da Malária. Brasilia, DF, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Escritório de Assuntos Internacionais. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Parasitologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.National Malaria Programme. Ministry of Health. Paramaribo, Suriname.Centre d’Investigation Clinique Antilles-Guyane (Inserm 1424). Cayenne Hospital, Cayenne, French Guiana / Université de Guyane. Epidemiology of Tropical Parasitoses. Cayenne, French Guiana.Foundation for Scientific Research Suriname (SWOS). Paramaribo, Suriname.Pan American Health Organization. Barbados Office, Bridgetown, Barbados.Illegal gold miners in French Guiana, a French overseas territory ('département') located in Amazonia, often carry malaria parasites (up to 46.8%). While the Guiana Shield Region aims at malaria elimination, the high prevalence of Plasmodium in this hard-to-reach population in conjunction with frequent incorrect use of artemisinin-based anti-malarials could favour the emergence of resistant parasites. Due to geographical and regulatory issues in French Guiana, usual malaria control strategies cannot be implemented in this particular context. Therefore, new strategies targeting this specific population in the forest are required

Implementation of a novel malaria management strategy based on self-testing and self-treatment in remote areas in the Amazon (Malakit): confronting a-priori assumptions with reality

International audienceBackground: A novel strategy to combat malaria was tested using a methodology adapted to a complex setting in the Amazon region and a hard-to-reach, mobile community. The intervention strategy tested was the distribution, after training, of malaria self-management kits to gold miners who cross the Surinamese and Brazilian borders with French Guiana to work illegally in the remote mining sites in the forest of this French overseas entity. Main text: This article aims at presenting all process and implementation outcomes following the Conceptual Framework of Implementation Fidelity i.e. adherence, including content and exposure, and moderators, comprising participant responsiveness, quality of delivery, facilitation strategies, and context. The information sources are the post-intervention survey, data collected longitudinally during the intervention, a qualitative study, data collected during an outreach mission to a remote gold mining site, supervisory visit reports, in-depth feedback from the project implementers, and videos self-recorded by facilitators based on opened ended questions. As expected, being part of or close to the study community was an essential condition to enable deliverers, referred to as "facilitators", to overcome the usual wariness of this gold mining population. Overall, the content of the intervention was in line with what was planned. With an estimated one third of the population reached, exposure was satisfactory considering the challenging context, but improvable by increasing ad hoc off-site distribution according to needs. Participant responsiveness was the main strength of the intervention, but could be enhanced by reducing the duration of the process to get a kit, which could be disincentive in some places. Regarding the quality of delivery, the main issue was the excess of information provided to participants rather than a lack of information, but this was corrected over time. The expected decrease in malaria incidence became a source of reduced interest in the kit. Expanding the scope of facilitators' responsibilities could be a suitable response. Better articulation with existing malaria management services is recommended to ensure sustainability

NRL and CRX Define Photoreceptor Identity and Reveal Subgroup-Specific Dependencies in Medulloblastoma

International audienc