Changes in the Molecular Epidemiology of Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis in Senegal After Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Introduction.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial meningitis is a major cause of mortality among children under 5 years of age. Senegal is part of World Health Organization-coordinated sentinel site surveillance for pediatric bacterial meningitis surveillance. We conducted this analysis to describe the epidemiology and etiology of bacterial meningitis among children less than 5 years in Senegal from 2010 and to 2016. METHODS: Children who met the inclusion criteria for suspected meningitis at the Centre Hospitalier National d'Enfants Albert Royer, Senegal, from 2010 to 2016 were included. Cerebrospinal fluid specimens were collected from suspected cases examined by routine bacteriology and molecular assays. Serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and whole-genome sequencing were performed. RESULTS: A total of 1013 children were admitted with suspected meningitis during the surveillance period. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus accounted for 66% (76/115), 25% (29/115), and 9% (10/115) of all confirmed cases, respectively. Most of the suspected cases (63%; 639/1013) and laboratory-confirmed (57%; 66/115) cases occurred during the first year of life. Pneumococcal meningitis case fatality rate was 6-fold higher than that of meningococcal meningitis (28% vs 5%). The predominant pneumococcal lineage causing meningitis was sequence type 618 (n = 7), commonly found among serotype 1 isolates. An ST 2174 lineage that included serotypes 19A and 23F was resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a decline in pneumococcal meningitis post-pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Senegal. However, disease caused by pathogens covered by vaccines in widespread use still persists. There is need for continued effective monitoring of vaccine-preventable meningitis

Senegal: Presidential elections 2019 - The shining example of democratic transition immersed in muddy power-politics

Whereas Senegal has long been sold as a showcase of democracy in Africa, including peaceful political alternance, things apparently changed fundamentally with the Senegalese presidentials of 2019 that brought new configurations. One of the major issues was political transhumance that has been elevated to the rank of religion in defiance of morality. It threatened political stability and peace. In response, social networks of predominantly young activists, created in 2011 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring focused on grass-roots advocacy with the electorate on good governance and democracy. They proposed a break with a political system that they consider as neo-colonialist. Moreover, Senegal’s justice is frequently accused to be biased, and the servility of the Constitutional Council which is in the first place an electoral court has often been denounced

On multilayer reaction-diffusion problems: A semigroup approach, Part I

We use the theory of semigroups to obtain the existence and uniqueness of solutions for multilayer diffusion models with possibly non linear  reactions terms as well as local non-homogeneous boundary conditions on the rst and the last layers. We also allow the possibility of having Dirichlet,  Newman or mixed type conditions in the rst and the last layers. We express the solutions in terms of variation of constants formula. Our approach  constitutes a rst step in order to deal  with multilayer reaction-diffusion problem with non-local boundary value conditions by using integrated semigroup theory

Comparaison des mensurations d’arcades selon le caractère obstructif des amygdales palatines

Introduction : Le rôle des amygdales palatines obstructives dans la genèse des anomalies des relations des arcades dentaires est largement évoqué dans la littérature orthodontique mais reste controversé. Les données fournies sur la probable relation entre l’hypertrophie des amygdales et l’existence de ces anomalies sont subjectives. L’objectif de cette étude est de rechercher une association entre les amygdales palatines obstructives et des anomalies des relations d’arcades. Matériels et méthodes : Il s’agit d’une étude transversale réalisée chez des enfants âgés entre 6 et 12 ans. Les sujets sont divisés en deux groupes (A et B) selon le caractère obstructif des amygdales palatines. Sur chaque enfant, des mensurations intra- et inter-arcades ont été réalisées. Un test t et un chi2 ont respectivement été réalisés pour comparer les variables quantitatives et qualitatives selon le caractère obstructif des amygdales. Lorsque le nombre de cas était faible, le chi2 a été remplacé par le test exact de Fisher. La signification est fixée à p = 0,05. Résultats : La profondeur d’arcade est significativement plus marquée dans le groupe B. Le groupe A présente les plus grands diamètres transversaux d’arcades. Le groupe B a significativement tendance aux rapports molaires de classe II, à l’infraclusion antérieure et à une occlusion croisée postérieure avec une latéro-déviation mandibulaire. Conclusion : Une évaluation précoce des enfants présentant une hypertrophie des amygdales permettrait de prévenir les effets sur les arcades dentaires. Ainsi, seront évités les traitements tardifs et plus agressifs qui ne sont pas toujours aussi efficients que lorsqu’ils sont effectués pendant l’enfance

Study of the spatial variability of marine pollution around the peninsula of Cape Verde

International audienceMarine pollution, the scourge of modern times, is due to the runoff of domestic and industrial waters as well as to various anthropogenic activities, i.e. products and objects deliberately or accidentally discharged into the sea. The samples taken from 11 sites on the Cap-Vert peninsula in Senegal, indicate the presence of certain polluting substances in varying amounts. The objective of this work is to study the correlations between the physical, microbiological and chemical parameters in order to highlight the similarities between the sites and, if possible, to determine the most relevant parameter(s) to characterize the pollution. PCA results have shown that some sites appear to be less chemically polluted than others that are more polluted with eutrophication and chemicals (e.g., copper, mercury). From a physical point of view, for example, we observe that the characteristics of sediments (large silt, clays, fine silt) are related to certain chemical parameters.The AFC performed between the overall toxicity of the sediments and the microbiological quality of the water shows that the site of Ouakam has a medium toxicity and a good microbiological quality while that of Cambérène and the Vivier are characterized respectively by bad and good quality but also by low toxicity at both sites. The two sites of Hann (Hann1 and Hann2), Soumbédioune, Ngor, Yoff Tonghor and Dakar Le Dantec are characterized by high toxicity and poor microbiological quality. Those in the Madeleine Islands and the Port of Dakar are characterized by high toxicity and bad microbiological quality. Moreover, as expected Soumbédioune appears as the most polluted sites in terms of microbiological load. The interest of the multivariate approach (ACP and AFC) is then discussed in this type of analysis

Pollution assessment around a big city in West Africa reveals high concentrations of microplastics and microbiologic contamination

International audienceMarine pollution around West African big cities is of major concerns. Nevertheless, few attempts have been performed so far particularly on microplastic assessment. We had led first survey targeting microplastic in West African coastal waters (2016); and evaluated on the same sites microbiological contamination as well as marine sediment toxicity and mercury content. Thus, neuston marine water samples were collected over Dakar a highly populated West African city. The average abundance was around 258 954 microplastic particles per km2 and 37 442 for macroplastics. One station, downstream from the major wastewater plant, contained high abundance of microplastic particles of over 945 000 and 190 000 macroplastics. The offshore station had a lower abundance of microplastics and macroplastics. It was observed that the stations found with highest level of microbiological pollution were related to highest microplastics abundance and the presence of major effluents, suggesting wastewaters inputs and microbiological pollution favoured by microplastics and macroplastics as vector. No correlation was observed between microplastics and/or macroplastics and sediment toxicity neither mercury level, which appeared low in all studied sites. However, high level of ecotoxicity were often found near effluents. Such results are a first step within the framework of encouraging awareness and actions in West Africa

Study of the spatial variability of marine pollution around the peninsula of Cape Verde

International audienceMarine pollution, the scourge of modern times, is due to the runoff of domestic and industrial waters as well as to various anthropogenic activities, i.e. products and objects deliberately or accidentally discharged into the sea. The samples taken from 11 sites on the Cap-Vert peninsula in Senegal, indicate the presence of certain polluting substances in varying amounts. The objective of this work is to study the correlations between the physical, microbiological and chemical parameters in order to highlight the similarities between the sites and, if possible, to determine the most relevant parameter(s) to characterize the pollution. PCA results have shown that some sites appear to be less chemically polluted than others that are more polluted with eutrophication and chemicals (e.g., copper, mercury). From a physical point of view, for example, we observe that the characteristics of sediments (large silt, clays, fine silt) are related to certain chemical parameters.The AFC performed between the overall toxicity of the sediments and the microbiological quality of the water shows that the site of Ouakam has a medium toxicity and a good microbiological quality while that of Cambérène and the Vivier are characterized respectively by bad and good quality but also by low toxicity at both sites. The two sites of Hann (Hann1 and Hann2), Soumbédioune, Ngor, Yoff Tonghor and Dakar Le Dantec are characterized by high toxicity and poor microbiological quality. Those in the Madeleine Islands and the Port of Dakar are characterized by high toxicity and bad microbiological quality. Moreover, as expected Soumbédioune appears as the most polluted sites in terms of microbiological load. The interest of the multivariate approach (ACP and AFC) is then discussed in this type of analysis

First Description of the Extended Spectrum-Beta-Lactamase Gene blaCTX-M-109 in Salmonella Grumpensis Strains Isolated from Neonatal Nosocomial Infections in Dakar, Senegal.

Nosocomial infections are very common in African hospitals, particularly in neonatal units. These infections are most often caused by bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp and Staphylococcus spp. Salmonella strains are rarely involved in nosocomial infections. Here, we report the first description of S. Grumpensis in neonatal infections in Senegal. Seventeen Salmonella strains were isolated from hospitalized infants' stool samples. The following resistance phenotype was described in strains: AMXRTICRCFR FOXRCFXRCTXRCAZRIMPSATMRNARNORRCIPRTMRGMRTERSXTR. All isolates were susceptible to imipenem, 15 out of 17 produced an extended spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL). blaOXA-1, blaSHV-1, blaTEM-1, blaCTX-M1 genes were detected in strains 8, 13, 5 and 8, respectively. blaCTX-M1 sequencing revealed the presence of blaCTX-M-109. Thirteen of the 17 Salmonella Grumpensis strains were analyzed by PFGE. These 13 isolates belonged to a single pulsotype and were genotypically identical. This is the first report of neonatal S. Grumpensis infections in Senegal, and the first report of blaCTX-M-109 in the genus Salmonella