Clinical and biological profiles of prospective blood donors at the Yaoundé Central Hospital and the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital: Profils cliniques et biologiques des futurs donneurs de sang à l'hôpital central de Yaoundé et au CHU de Yaoundé

Assessing the profiles of prospective donors could help develop strategies to improve blood safety in our context. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and biological profiles of prospective Cameroonian blood donors. To attain this objective, we carried out a cross-sectional and analytical study on all prospective blood donors that presented at the Yaoundé Central Hospital (HCY) and Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (YUTH) blood banks from January 2017 to May 2017. After obtaining participants’ consent, we collected information from them, examined them, and collected five-milliliter blood samples from each of them. These blood samples were used to test for HIV, HBV, HCV, and Syphilis. A total of 247 prospective donors were retained for the study. We found that group “O” was noted in 50.9% of the participants and 97% were Rhesus-positive. Of the four main transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) screened, 57 participants tested positive for at least one; nine were tested positive for HIV, twenty-six for HBV, ten for HCV, and sixteen for Syphilis. Co-infection was noted in four of the participants with two of them testing positive for both HIV and HBV, one for both HIV and HCV, and one for both HCV and Syphilis. On univariate analysis, a significant association was found between lymph nodes measuring more than 2 cm and the presence of a TTI. The presence of lymph nodes measuring more than 2 cm was associated with the presence of a TTI. L'évaluation des profils des donneurs potentiels pourrait aider à développer des stratégies pour améliorer la sécurité du sang dans notre contexte. Cette étude visait à évaluer les profils cliniques et biologiques des candidats donneurs de sang camerounais. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons mené une étude transversale et analytique sur tous les candidats donneurs de sang qui se sont présentés aux banques de sang du Centre Hospitalier Central de Yaoundé (HCY) et du CHU de Yaoundé (YUTH) de janvier 2017 à mai 2017. Après obtention des participants ' consentement, nous avons recueilli des informations auprès d'eux, les avons examinés et prélevé des échantillons de sang de cinq millilitres sur chacun d'eux. Ces échantillons de sang ont été utilisés pour tester le VIH, le VHB, le VHC et la syphilis. Au total, 247 donneurs potentiels ont été retenus pour l'étude. Nous avons constaté que le groupe « O » était noté chez 50,9 % des participants et 97 % étaient rhésus positifs. Sur les quatre principales infections transmissibles par transfusion (ITT) dépistées, 57 participants ont été testés positifs pour au moins une ; neuf ont été testés positifs pour le VIH, vingt-six pour le VHB, dix pour le VHC et seize pour la syphilis. Une co-infection a été notée chez quatre des participants, dont deux étaient positifs à la fois pour le VIH et le VHB, un pour le VIH et le VHC et un pour le VHC et la syphilis. En analyse univariée, une association significative a été retrouvée entre les ganglions mesurant plus de 2 cm et la présence d'un ITT. La présence de ganglions mesurant plus de 2 cm était associée à la présence d'un ITT

The CyScope® Fluorescence Microscope, a Reliable Tool for Tuberculosis Diagnosis in Resource-Limited Settings

Poor laboratory equipment and few human resources have made it difficult to implement microscopic diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) on a large scale basis worldwide. Three hundred sputum samples from patients in Cameroon were studied by using the CyScope®, a new light-emitting, diode-based, fluorescence microscope, to compare auramine-rhodamine fluorescence with the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen staining method. Five fluorescence protocols were tested to reduce manipulation time. Smear positivity for acid-fast bacilli with the Ziehl-Neelsen staining method was 27.7% (83 of 300) compared with 33.3% (100 of 300) with the fluorescent method. Staining time with the modified fluorescence protocol could be reduced from 21 minutes to 10 minutes. This study confirmed that the fluorescence staining method is more sensitive than the Ziehl-Neelsen staining method. It is suggested that the training of laboratory technicians on fluorescence microscopy should be scaled up for increased disease control

ForestGEO: understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network

ForestGEO is a network of scientists and long-term forest dynamics plots (FDPs) spanning the Earth's major forest types. ForestGEO's mission is to advance understanding of the diversity and dynamics of forests and to strengthen global capacity for forest science research. ForestGEO is unique among forest plot networks in its large-scale plot dimensions, censusing of all stems ≥1 cm in diameter, inclusion of tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and investigation of additional biotic (e.g., arthropods) and abiotic (e.g., soils) drivers, which together provide a holistic view of forest functioning. The 71 FDPs in 27 countries include approximately 7.33 million living trees and about 12,000 species, representing 20% of the world's known tree diversity. With >1300 published papers, ForestGEO researchers have made significant contributions in two fundamental areas: species coexistence and diversity, and ecosystem functioning. Specifically, defining the major biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution and coexistence of species and functional types and on variation in species' demography has led to improved understanding of how the multiple dimensions of forest diversity are structured across space and time and how this diversity relates to the processes controlling the role of forests in the Earth system. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain that impede our ability to predict how forest diversity and function will respond to climate change and other stressors. Meeting these global research challenges requires major advances in standardizing taxonomy of tropical species, resolving the main drivers of forest dynamics, and integrating plot-based ground and remote sensing observations to scale up estimates of forest diversity and function, coupled with improved predictive models. However, they cannot be met without greater financial commitment to sustain the long-term research of ForestGEO and other forest plot networks, greatly expanded scientific capacity across the world's forested nations, and increased collaboration and integration among research networks and disciplines addressing forest science