Seroprevalence of human immunodefi ciency virus, hepatitis B and C viruses and syphilis among blood donors in Koudougou (Burkina Faso) in 2009

Background. The high prevalence of numerous transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases such as human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis in sub-Saharan Africa affects the safety of blood for recipients. This study was undertaken with the aim of determining the seroprevalence of HIV, HCV, HBV, syphilis and socio-demographic risk factors associated with blood donation in a new regional blood transfusion centre in Burkina Faso. Material and methods. Sera samples were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HCV, HIV types 1 and 2 and to Treponema pallidum using enzymelinked immunosorbent assays and Rapid Plasma Reagin test (RPR) respectively. All the reactive samples for HIV, HBsAg, and HCV were confi rmed using a second enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Antibodies to Treponema pallidum were confi rmed with a Treponema pallidum haemagglutination test (TPHA). Results. From the total of 4,520 blood donors in 2009, 1,348 (29.82%) were infected with at least one pathogen and 149 (3.30%) had serological evidence of multiple infections. The overall seroprevalence rate of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis was 2.21%, 14.96%, 8.69% and 3.96%, respectively. Among blood donors with multiples infections, the most common dual or triple combinations were HBsAg-HCV (1.39%), HBsAg-syphilis (0.66%) and HBsAg-HCV-syphilis (0.11%). The highest prevalences of HBsAg and HIV were found among blood donors from rural areas and in the age groups of 20-29 years and >40 years old, respectively. Conclusion. HBV and HCV remain the greatest threats to blood safety in Burkina Faso. Strict selection and retention of voluntary, non-remunerated low-risk blood donors are recommended to improve blood safety in the regional blood transfusion centre of Koudougou

Implementation of broad screening with Ebola rapid diagnostic tests in Forécariah, Guinea

Background: Laboratory-enhanced surveillance is critical for rapidly detecting the potential re-emergence of Ebola virus disease. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for Ebola antigens could expand diagnostic capacity for Ebola virus disease. Objectives: The Guinean National Coordination for Ebola Response conducted a pilot implementation to determine the feasibility of broad screening of patients and corpses with the OraQuick® Ebola RDT. Methods: The implementation team developed protocols and trained healthcare workers to screen patients and corpses in Forécariah prefecture, Guinea, from 15 October to 30 November 2015. Data collected included number of consultations, number of fevers reported or measured, number of tests performed for patients or corpses and results of confirmatory RT-PCR testing. Data on malaria RDT results were collected for comparison. Feedback from Ebola RDT users was collected informally during supervision visits and forums. Results: There were 3738 consultations at the 15 selected healthcare facilities; 74.6% of consultations were for febrile illness. Among 2787 eligible febrile patients, 2633 were tested for malaria and 1628 OraQuick® Ebola RDTs were performed. A total of 322 OraQuick® Ebola RDTs were conducted on corpses. All Ebola tests on eligible patients were negative. Conclusions: Access to Ebola testing was expanded by the implementation of RDTs in an emergency situation. Feedback from Ebola RDT users and lessons learned will contribute to improving quality for RDT expansion

Visual mismatch negativity to vanishing parts of objects in younger and older adults.

We investigated visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) to vanishing parts of continuously present objects by comparing the event-related potentials (ERPs) to infrequently (deviant) and frequently (standard) disappearing parts of the objects. This paradigm both excludes low-level stimulus-specific adaptation differences between the responses to deviants and standards, and increases the ecological validity of the stimuli. In comparison to frequently disappearing parts of the stimulus objects, infrequently vanishing parts elicited posterior negative event-related brain activity (vMMN). However, no vMMN emerged to the reappearance of the same parts of the objects. We compared the ERPs of an older and a younger sample of participants. In the 120-180 ms time period vMMN was similar in the two age groups, but in the 180-220 ms time period vMMN emerged only in the younger participants. We consider this difference as an index of more elaborate automatic processing of infrequent stimulus changes in younger adults