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

Some Best Advocacy Practices In The Fight Against Hiv/Aids In Mali, West Africa

This paper explores some best advocacy practices in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Mali. My study focuses mainly on the different strategies advocates use, not only to promote the prevention and the treatment of HIV in Mali but also to address the many challenges they encounter when working in the field. This is a qualitative study for which three main methods of data collection are used. These include personal observation, the review of several documents related to the topic, and unstructured interviews with selected employees of the Malian government, local non governmental organizations (NGOs), and an international donor. The study shows that both the public sector and non governmental organizations deal with HIV/AIDS and poverty separately, as if they were distinct issues. Many health programs emphasize prevention and treatment, ignoring the role that poverty plays in the spread of the HIV pandemic. However, some community based organizations (CBOs) bridge the gap between the traditional response to HIV/AIDS and an integrated approach that can lead to both short and long term solutions to the problems posed by the disease. Findings from this research might be of help to a large spectrum of actors. They could guide governments and policy makers, international funding agencies and NGOs in adapting programs and policies which address the real needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS. Both NGOs and the private sector will find in the results incentives to develop strategies which are more comprehensive and effective than those they have traditionally used in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Temporo-spatial dynamics and behavioural patterns of 2012 cholera epidemic in the African mega-city of Conakry, Guinea

Abstract Background Cholera is endemic in Guinea, having suffered consecutive outbreaks from 2004 to 2008 followed by a lull until the 2012 epidemic. Here we describe the temporal-spatial and behavioural characteristics of cholera cases in Conakry during a three-year period, including the large-scale 2012 epidemic. Methods We used the national and African Cholera Surveillance Network (Africhol) surveillance data collected from every cholera treatment centre in Conakry city from August 2011 to December 2013. The prevalence of suspect and confirmed cholera cases, the case fatality ratio (CFR), and the factors associated with suspected cholera were described according to three periods: pre-epidemic (A), epidemic 2012 (B) and post epidemic (C). Weekly attack rates and temporal-spatial clustering were calculated at municipality level for period B. Cholera was confirmed by culture at the cholera national reference laboratory. Results A total of 4559 suspect cases were reported: 66, 4437, and 66 suspect cases in periods A, B and C, respectively. Among the 204 suspect cases with culture results available, 6%, 60%, and 70% were confirmed in periods A, B, and C, respectively. With 0.3%, the CFR was significantly lower in period B than in periods A (7.6%) and C (7.1%). The overall attack rate was 0.28% in period B, ranging from 0.17% to 0.31% across municipalities. Concomitantly, a cluster of cases was identified in two districts in the northern part of Conakry. At 14%, rice water stools were less frequent in period A than in period B and C (78% and 84%). Dehydration (31% vs 94% and 89%) and coma (0.4% vs 3.1% and 2.9%) were lower during period B than in periods A and C. The treatment of drinking water was less frequent in period A, while there were more reports of recent travel in period C. Conclusions The epidemic dynamic and the sociological description of suspect cases before, during, and after the large-scale epidemic revealed that the Vibrio cholerae was already present before the epidemic. However, it appeared that infected individuals reacted differently in terms of disease severity as well as their access to treated water and travel habits. Such an in-depth description of cholera epidemics should be systematically carried out in cholera endemic settings in order to prioritize higher risk areas, identify transmission factors, and optimize preventive interventions

Additional file 1: of Temporo-spatial dynamics and behavioural patterns of 2012 cholera epidemic in the African mega-city of Conakry, Guinea

Multiligual abstracts in the five official working languages of the United Nations. (PDF 501 kb

Cholera Incidence and Mortality in Sub-Saharan African Sites during Multi-country Surveillance

International audienc

Gender, age and season of occurrence of cholera suspect cases.

<p>N = 6280.</p

Suspect cases with culture done and Suspect cases with positive culture for <i>Vibrio cholera</i> (second part).

<p>Surveillance zone, Goma-Karisimbi districts, DRC (G); outbreak site, Pemba city, Mozambique (H); outbreak site, Adiake prefecture, Cote d’Ivoire (I); outbreak site, Kasese district, Uganda (J); outbreak site, Maluku-Kingabwa-Massina districts, Kinshasa, DRC (K). Dark blue bars show cases with culture test done, light blue bars show cases with culture test not done, green bars show cases with <i>Vibrio cholera</i> identified by culture, and yellow bars show cases having a culture negative for <i>Vibrio cholera</i>. The dashed line shows the first month of the enhanced Africhol surveillance. The dotted line shows the last month of the enhanced Africhol surveillance.</p

Suspect cases with stool sample collected, culture test done and culture positive result.

<p>N = 13,377.</p

Gender, age and season of occurrence of culture confirmed cholera cases.

<p>N = 1019.</p

Clinical characteristics of suspect cholera cases.

<p>N = 6280.</p