Dengue vector habitats in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 2020: an unintended consequence of the installation of public handwashing stations for COVID-19 prevention

Correspondenc

Pollination syndrome of the African custard apple (Annona senegalensis Pers.) reveals reliance on specialized brood-site weevil pollinators in Annonaceae

International audienceThe pollination syndrome of the African custard apple (Annona senegalensis Pers.; Annonaceae) was investigated to gain insights into the reproductive strategy of this multipurpose wild shrub. Flower visitors were collected and frequently surveyed in the morning on 30 flowers of 30 plants per site, at four sites across the Sudanian and Sudano-Sahelian climatic zones of Burkina Faso during the flowering season, from May to June. A total of nine species of insects including Coleoptera (Curculionidae, Scarabeidae), Hymenoptera (Formicidae) and Diptera (Tephritidae) were observed visiting flowers. Among the recorded insects, two sympatric species of weevil (Curculioninae, Ochyromerini, Endaeus castus Schoenherr and Endaeus floralis Marshall) were by far the most abundant (97% of specimens) and were observed on all the 120 flowers sampled. Both species were observed on the fleshy petals of the cantharophilous flowers of Annona senegalensis that they use as substrate for the development of larval stages. These observations echo with the ever-growing number of researches highlighting the major role of weevils in the pollination of the pantropical Annonaceae. Our study provides first evidence of brood-site mutualism between an Annonaceae species and its specialized weevils pollinators

Santé des adolescents et des jeunes au Burkina Faso : état des lieux et priorités

La population des adolescents et jeunes au Burkina Faso (tranche d’âge des 10 à 24 ans) représente 43,6 % et suscite un intérêt particulier pour le Ministère de la Santé. Pour ce faire, il y a la nécessité de regarder leurs besoins afin de leur offrir des soins adaptés. La présente étude avait pour objectif de faire le point de l’état de santé des adolescents et des jeunes et d’en dégager des priorités. Il s‘est agi d’une étude évaluative ayant utilisé une revue documentaire associée à une interview des acteurs clés et un atelier de validation et d’identification des interventions pertinentes pour un plan stratégique national. La situation de la santé des adolescents et des jeunes est caractérisée par des grossesses précoces et non désirées, des avortements provoqués clandestins, des rapports sexuels précoces, non protégés, souvent avec plusieurs partenaires, une prévalence élevée du VIH/Sida et des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST), les traumatismes, les problèmes de santé mentale et les violences diverses. Le phénomène est aggravé par la faible utilisation des méthodes contraceptives et des services de santé par les jeunes. Mal documentée, la situation relative à la consommation d’alcool, de drogue et de tabac, substances hautement nuisibles pour la santé, reste préoccupante. Il est ressorti également l’insuffisance d’infrastructures et d’équipements pour les loisirs ainsi qu’un faible accompagnement technique des activités en faveur des adolescents et des jeunes. Le constat général est que l’offre de services s’est améliorée malgré l’insuffisance de la sensibilisation, notamment auprès des jeunes non scolarisés, de même que les disparités entre les zones urbaines et rurales pour l’accès à l’information et aux services. Le plan stratégique de santé des jeunes (PSSAJ) constitue un cadre de référence essentiel dont l’importance a été soulignée par tous les informateurs. La diffusion et l’appropriation prévues pour sa mise en oeuvre n’ont pas été effectives comme la mise à disposition en temps réel faute de ressources financières, matérielles et humaines. Aussi, il est nécessaire de mettre en place un cadre de concertation associant toutes les parties prenantes pour l’élaboration du document. En outre, l’importance d’un dispositif de coordination et de suivi-évaluation des interventions multisectorielles a été relevée comme une condition essentielle pour atteindre les objectifs du plan stratégique de la santé des adolescents et jeunes. La santé des adolescents et jeunes reste marquée par la nécessité de l’affirmation d’une gouvernance orientée sur leurs spécificités. Par ailleurs, la double protection est apparue comme une solution idoine, à défaut de l’abstinence, face aux causes majeures tridimensionnelles de leurs problèmes (grossesses, avortements et IST/sida). Une approche systémique prenant en compte des interventions multisectorielles reste essentielle pour la prise en compte des problèmes de santé des adolescents et jeunes.Mots-clés : équité, adolescents et jeunes, système de santé, Afrique, accès aux soins

Pulse wave velocity is lower in trained than in untrained sickle cell trait carriers

International audienceSickle cell trait (SCT) is a benign condition of sickle cell disease. Nevertheless, previous reports showed that SCT carriers have increased blood viscosity and decreased vascular reactivity compared to non-SCT carrier. The benefit of regular exercise on vascular function has been well documented in the general population but no study focused on the SCT population

Can linear transportation infrastructure verges constitute a habitat and/or a corridor for vertebrates in temperate ecosystems? A systematic review

Background. Linear transportation infrastructures (roads, railways, oil and gas pipelines, powerlines and waterways) generate well documented fragmenting effects on species habitats. However, the potential of verges of linear transportation infrastructures (road and railway embankments, strips of grass under power lines or above buried pipelines, or waterway banks) as habitat or corridor for biodiversity, remains controversial. In a context of constant loss of natural habitats, the opportunities of anthropogenic areas for compensating the loss of biodiversity they generated have to be considered. This paper is the first synthesis of evidence addressing this topic for vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles) in temperate ecosystems.Methods. We conducted a systematic literature survey using two online publication databases, three search engines, specialist websites, and by sending a call for literature to subject experts. We successively screened the articles for relevance on titles, abstracts and full texts using criteria detailed in an a priori protocol. We then used six specific questions to categorize the retained studies and to critically appraise them. These questions encompassed the potential of verges as habitats and corridors for vertebrates, and the effects of landscape and management on these potentialities. We critically appraised all studies to assess their risk of bias and created a database of the studies with low and medium risk of bias. We synthesized results for each specific question in narrative syntheses. Finally, studies that met meta-analysis requirements were used for quantitative syntheses.Results. Our initial searches identified 83,565 documents. After critical appraisal, we retained 119 documents that reported 128 studies. Most studies were conducted in Europe (49%) and in the United States of America (22%), and were about mammals (61%) and birds (20%). Results from the narrative synthesis and meta-analyses converged and revealed that the potential of linear transportation infrastructures verges to constitute a habitat for vertebrate species varies according to the infrastructure and the biological group considered. Especially, highway verges may be a refuge for small mammals but seems detrimental to birds. The potential also varied depending on the landscape considered, with urbanisation being related to lower biodiversity hosted by verges. We found a wide variety of verge management practices with few studies on each practice, which prevented us from drawing general conclusions. Likewise, we found too few studies assessing the corridor potential of verges to be able to fully conclude although this potential seems to exist. We did not find any study assessing the effect of landscape context or management on the role of corridor of verges.Conclusions. We identified a major knowledge gap regarding the potential of linear transportation infrastructure verges as corridors for vertebrates, and when they exist studies rarely directly measured movements on verges. We thus encourage more research on this topic and the development of protocols that enable direct measures of vertebrate movements. The effect of management practices on the role of habitat of verges also deserves further investigations, and research efforts should be coordinated to focus on one specific practice (e.g. vegetation management)

Can linear transportation infrastructure verges constitute a habitat and/or a corridor for vertebrates in temperate ecosystems? A systematic review

Background. Linear transportation infrastructures (roads, railways, oil and gas pipelines, powerlines and waterways) generate well documented fragmenting effects on species habitats. However, the potential of verges of linear transportation infrastructures (road and railway embankments, strips of grass under power lines or above buried pipelines, or waterway banks) as habitat or corridor for biodiversity, remains controversial. In a context of constant loss of natural habitats, the opportunities of anthropogenic areas for compensating the loss of biodiversity they generated have to be considered. This paper is the first synthesis of evidence addressing this topic for vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles) in temperate ecosystems.Methods. We conducted a systematic literature survey using two online publication databases, three search engines, specialist websites, and by sending a call for literature to subject experts. We successively screened the articles for relevance on titles, abstracts and full texts using criteria detailed in an a priori protocol. We then used six specific questions to categorize the retained studies and to critically appraise them. These questions encompassed the potential of verges as habitats and corridors for vertebrates, and the effects of landscape and management on these potentialities. We critically appraised all studies to assess their risk of bias and created a database of the studies with low and medium risk of bias. We synthesized results for each specific question in narrative syntheses. Finally, studies that met meta-analysis requirements were used for quantitative syntheses.Results. Our initial searches identified 83,565 documents. After critical appraisal, we retained 119 documents that reported 128 studies. Most studies were conducted in Europe (49%) and in the United States of America (22%), and were about mammals (61%) and birds (20%). Results from the narrative synthesis and meta-analyses converged and revealed that the potential of linear transportation infrastructures verges to constitute a habitat for vertebrate species varies according to the infrastructure and the biological group considered. Especially, highway verges may be a refuge for small mammals but seems detrimental to birds. The potential also varied depending on the landscape considered, with urbanisation being related to lower biodiversity hosted by verges. We found a wide variety of verge management practices with few studies on each practice, which prevented us from drawing general conclusions. Likewise, we found too few studies assessing the corridor potential of verges to be able to fully conclude although this potential seems to exist. We did not find any study assessing the effect of landscape context or management on the role of corridor of verges.Conclusions. We identified a major knowledge gap regarding the potential of linear transportation infrastructure verges as corridors for vertebrates, and when they exist studies rarely directly measured movements on verges. We thus encourage more research on this topic and the development of protocols that enable direct measures of vertebrate movements. The effect of management practices on the role of habitat of verges also deserves further investigations, and research efforts should be coordinated to focus on one specific practice (e.g. vegetation management)