Clinical presentation, outcomes and factors associated with mortality: A prospective study from three COVID-19 referral care centres in West Africa

OBJECTIVES: The overall death toll from COVID-19 in Africa is reported to be low but there is little individual-level evidence on the severity of the disease. This study examined the clinical spectrum and outcome of patients monitored in COVID-19 care centres (CCCs) in two West-African countries. METHODS: Burkina Faso and Guinea set up referral CCCs to hospitalise all symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers, regardless of the severity of their symptoms. Data collected from hospitalised patients by November 2020 are presented. RESULT: A total of 1,805 patients (64% men, median age 41 years) were admitted with COVID-19. Symptoms lasted for a median of 7 days (IQR 4-11). During hospitalisation, 443 (25%) had a SpO2 < 94% at least once, 237 (13%) received oxygen and 266 (15%) took corticosteroids. Mortality was 5% overall, and 1%, 5% and 14% in patients aged <40, 40-59 and ≥60 years, respectively. In multivariable analysis, the risk of death was higher in men (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1; 3.6), people aged ≥60 years (aOR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7; 4.8) and those with chronic hypertension (aOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2; 3.4). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 is as severe in Africa as elsewhere, and there must be more vigilance for common risk factors such as older age and hypertension

Violence chez les jeunes à Dakar : contexte, les facteurs et les réponses - rapport technique no. 2

Le contexte de la recrudescence de la violence chez les jeunes en milieu urbain, à Dakar notamment, justifie cette recherche. Or, au Sénégal, on dispose encore de peu de connaissances sur le phénomène et l'efficacité des réponses développées jusque-là. Les liens existant entre la violence, les situations socioéconomiques, l’exclusion et le cadre de vie urbain font rarement l’objet de production scientifique. Aussi, les réponses officielles des pouvoirs publics, les stratégies de résilience développées par les jeunes eux-mêmes, en particulier les jeunes filles, pour faire face aux situations de violence, d’exclusion et d’injustice ne sont pas documentées et connues

Tuberculose multifocale associée à une toxoplasmose cérébrale sur terrain immunodéprimé à VIH chez un patient immigré africain au Centre Hospitalier de Soissons, France

Dans les pays industrialisés et notamment en France, vu les moyens de prévention, dépistage précoce et prise en charge immédiate de l'infection à VIH, la survenue d'infections opportunistes ne se voit presque chez les immigrés et certaines couches socio-professionnelles défavorisées. Nous rapportons donc le cas d'un homme de 42 ans, immigré africain, hospitalisé pour syndrome infectieux dans un contexte d'altération de l'état général, VIH1 positif sous antirétroviraux depuis deux ans, arrêtés depuis quatre mois, une tuberculose pulmonaire traitée et déclarée guérie en février 2017 avec, à l'examen une lenteur à l'idéation, une fièvre à 39,6°C et un amaigrissement. Le nadir CD4 à 12/mm3, une charge virale VIH1 à 5,80log. Le scanner thoraco-abdominal et l'IRM cérébrale ont permis de visualiser des lésions intra-abdomino-thoraciques et cérébrales avant la confirmation diagnostique de la tuberculose et de la toxoplasmose. Le patient fut mis sous trithérapie antirétrovirale à quinze jours du traitement antituberculeux, puis au traitement antitoxoplasmique avec une évolution favorable

The Prevalence of HIV in Cancer Patients at the Surgical Oncology Unit of Donka University Hospital of Conakry (Guinea)

Aim. To determine the prevalence of HIV infection among patients seen at the surgical oncology unit of Donka (Conakry, Guinea). Method. We conducted a retrospective and descriptive study of HIV infection in cancer patients from May 2007 to December 2012. Social characteristics (age, gender, marital status, and education) and immune status (HIV type, CD4 count) were reviewed. Results. Out of 2598 cancer patients, 54 (2.1%) tested positive for HIV. There were 11 (20.4%) defining AIDS and 43 (79.6%) nondefining AIDS cancers. The most frequent cancers were breast (14) (26.0%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (6) (11.1%), liver (6) (11.1%), eye and annexes (6) (11.1%), and cervical cancer (5) (9.3%). These patients were female in 34 (63.0%) and had a median age of 39 years and body mass index was 20,3 Kg/m2. They were unschooled in 40 (74.1%) and married in 35 (64.8%). CD4 count showed a median of 317 cells/mL. Antiretroviral treatment was performed in 40 (74.1%). Conclusion. HIV prevalence is higher in patients in our unit of surgical oncology. Breast cancer was the most common in this association. A national survey of a large sample is needed to determine the true prevalence and impact of HIV on cancer prognosis

Unexpected high circulation of Plasmodium vivax in asymptomatic children from Kédougou, southeastern Senegal

Abstract Background Malaria in Senegal is due essentially to infections by Plasmodium falciparum and, to a lesser extent to Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. By the use of molecular methods, detection of Plasmodium vivax has been recently reported in the region of Kedougou, raising the question of appraisal of its potential prevalence in this setting. Methods A retrospective serological study was carried out using 188 samples taken from 2010 to 2011 in a longitudinal school survey during which 48 asymptomatic children (9–11 years) were recruited. Four collections of samples collected during two successive dry and rainy seasons were analysed for antibody responses to P. vivax and P. falciparum. Recombinant P. falciparum and P. vivax MSP1 antigens and total P. falciparum schizont lysate from African 07/03 strain (adapted to culture) were used for ELISA. Nested PCR amplification was used for molecular detection of P. vivax. Results A surprising high prevalence of IgG responses against P. vivax MSP1 was evidenced with 53% of positive samples and 58% of the individuals that were found positive to this antigen. There was 77% of responders to P. falciparum outlined by 63% of positive samples. Prevalence of responders did not differ as function of seasons. Levels of antibodies to P. falciparum fluctuated with significant increasing between dry and rainy season (P < 0.05), contrary to responses to P. vivax. There was a significant reciprocal relationship (P < 10−3) between antibody responses to the different antigens, but with weak coefficient of correlation (Rho around 0.3) underlining a variable profile at the individual level. Clear molecular signature was found in positive IgG to P. vivax msp1 samples by PCR. Conclusion This cross-sectional longitudinal study highlights the unexpected high circulation of P. vivax in this endemic area. Sero-immunology and molecular methods are powerful additive tools to identify endemic sites where relevant control measures have to be settled and monitored

Interferon β-1a for the treatment of Ebola virus disease: A historically controlled, single-arm proof-of-concept trial.

To date there are no approved antiviral drugs for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). Based on our in vitro evidence of antiviral activity of interferon (IFN)-ß activity against Ebola virus, we conducted a single arm clinical study in Guinea to evaluate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of IFN β-1a treatment for EVD. Nine individuals infected with Ebola virus were treated with IFN β-1a and compared retrospectively with a matched cohort of 21 infected patients receiving standardized supportive care only during the same time period at the same treatment unit. Cognizant of the limitations of having treated only 9 individuals with EVD, the data collected are cautiously considered. When compared to supportive care only, IFN β-1a treatment seemed to facilitate viral clearance from the blood and appeared associated with earlier resolution of disease symptoms. Survival, calculated from the date of consent for those in the trial and date of admission from those in the control cohort, to the date of death, was 19% for those receiving supportive care only, compared to 67% for those receiving supportive care plus IFN β-1a. Given the differences in baseline blood viremia between the control cohort and the IFN-treated cohort, an additional 17 controls were included for a subset analysis, from other treatment units in Guinea, matched with the IFN-treated patients based on age and baseline blood viremia. Subset analyses using this expanded control cohort suggests that patients without IFN β-1a treatment were ~ 1.5-1.9 fold more likely to die than those treated. Viewed altogether the results suggest a rationale for further clinical evaluation of IFN β-1a

Reemergence of Sylvatic Dengue Virus Serotype 2 in Kedougou, Senegal, 2020

In 2020, a sylvatic dengue virus serotype 2 infection outbreak resulted in 59 confirmed dengue cases in Kedougou, Senegal, suggesting those strains might not require adaptation to reemerge into urban transmission cycles. Large-scale genomic surveillance and updated molecular diagnostic tools are needed to effectively prevent dengue virus infections in Senegal

Characteristics of IFN β-1a treated patients.

<p>Characteristics of IFN β-1a treated patients.</p

Enrollment and analysis flow diagram.

<p>Enrollment and analysis flow diagram.</p