Molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: successful challenge

COVID-19 has worsened the health situation in Burkina Faso. In fact, the country has known a peak of the second wave, which began in November, and ended around January 2021. Biological diagnosis has played a key role in the management of COVID-19. The aim of this review paper is to address the practical aspects that laboratories have faced in order to meet the challenge of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in Burkina Faso. According to international requirements, Burkina Faso has used real-time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) as the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of COVID-19. From March 9, 2020 to July 31, 2021, in Burkina Faso, laboratories involved in COVID-19 diagnosis analyzed 226,189 samples by molecular tests and 2, 352 samples by rapid antigenic tests, whose peak was in January 2021 with 35,984 samples analyzed. The daily average rate of samples analysis was 456.02 tests. The majority of the individuals requesting COVID-19 tests were travelers (62.00%), followed by contact cases (18.42%), suspected cases (7.95%), voluntary screening (7.57%), and 4.06% of other applicants consisting of health care personnel and at-risk patients. In terms of prevention, vaccines are being administered to the general population. However, some efforts must be made to provide automated sample analysis equipment and complete sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 remains among the challenges

Screening of BRCA1 (c.5177_5180delGAAA rs80357867 and c.4986+6T>C rs80358086) and the BRCA2 (c.6445_6446delAT rs80359592) genes for breast cancer prevention in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to search for mutations in the BRCA1 (c.5177_5180delGAAA and c.4986+6T>C) and BRCA2 genes (c.6445_6446delAT) in a population of women diagnosed with breast cancer.METHODS: This is a case-control study that involved 140 participants, including 70 patients with histologically diagnosed breast cancer and 70 healthy women without breast cancer. Mutations in the BRCA1 (rs80357867, rs80358086) and BRCA2 (rs80359592) genes were tested by real-time PCR. The 95% confidence interval Odds Ratio (OR) was used to estimate the associations between specific genotypes and breast cancer.RESULTS: The study revealed that no mutations were detected for rs80359592. Similarly, no reference allele (TTTC/TTTC) of rs80357867 was found in this study. However, the homozygous double mutant (-/) genotype of this rs80357867 was observed in 11.43% and 1.43% of patients and controls respectively, while 88.57% of patients and 98.57% of controls had a heterozygous deletion (TTTC/-). Concerning rs80358086, 8.57% of the patients had a heterozygous mutation (A/G) with no significantly risk association with occurrence of breast cancer (OR = 6.46; 95% CI: 0.75-55.21; p = 0.11). In addition, this heterozygous mutation was significantly associated with a family history of breast cancer (OR=128; 95% CI: 9.46-1730.93) and breast cancer risk in nonmultiparous women (OR=6; 95% CI: 1-35.90; p= 0.05) but no association with overweight/obesity (OR=1.66; 95% CI: 0.18-15.35; p=1).CONCLUSION: This study shows high frequencies of heterozygous mutation of rs80357867 and rs80358086 from patients. In Burkina Faso, these results could help with early diagnosis of breast cancer in patients

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus in Burkina Faso: Screening, vaccination and evaluation of post-vaccination antibodies against hepatitis B surface antigen in newborns

The low rate of screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women is a highrisk factor for its vertical transmission. The objectives of this study were: i) to screen pregnant women for HBV infection; ii) vaccinate all children from birth against HBV regardless their mother HBV status; and iii) evaluate after 7 months of birth the level of their AbHBs among babies who received HBV vaccine at birth. Serological markers of HBV (HBsAg, HBeAg, AbHBs, AbHBe, and AbHBc) were determined on venous blood samples from 237 pregnant women and their children using the Abon Biopharm Kit. One hundred and two (102) children received the three doses of the EUVAX B® vaccine respectively at birth, two months and four months of life. Seven months after delivery, venous blood samples were collected from mothers and their children. Antibodies against hepatitis B surface antigen (AbHBs) were measured in vaccinated children using the ELISA Kit AbHBs Quantitative EIA. DNA extraction was performed on samples from HBV-seropositive mothers and their children using the Ribo Virus (HBV Real-TM Qual) Kit and for Real Time PCR, the HBV Real-TM Qual Kit was used. Serological diagnosis in pregnant women revealed 22 (9.28%) hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive samples of which 21 were positive for viral DNA by real-time PCR. Among the 22 HBsAg+ women, five (05) transmitted the virus to their children with a vertical transmission rate of 22.73%. A transmission rate of 23.81% (5/21) was found with the PCR method. Analysis of AbHBs levels revealed that 98.31% of the children had an average concentration of 218.07 ± 74.66 IU/L, which is well above the minimum threshold for protection (11 IU/L). This study has confirmed that vertical transmission of HBV is a reality in Burkina Faso and that vaccination at birth would significantly reduce this transmission

Study of Viral Load as A Predictive Marker of the Evolution of HIV Type 2 Infection in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: HIV - 2 infection is characterized by low sexual and vertical transmission and slow clinical and immunological progression. However, it can lead to AIDS. Viral load measurement is a predictive test of the success or failure of antiretroviral therapy. In order to evaluate the efficacy of ARV treatment, we measured plasma viral load, and CD4 T - cell counts in 68 patients, of whom 56 were HIV - 2 infected and 12 were HIV - 1/HIV - 2 co - infected. METHOD: We tested EDTA plasma samples stored at - 80 ° C, taken from patients followed in sentinel sites in the city of Ouagadougou. The sera were obtained by centrifugation, and the plasmatic viral load quantified by droplet double polymerase chain reaction (dd PCR), at a detection threshold of 10 copies/ml. Sociodemographic, clinical and therapeutic data were collected from patients charts and completed during an interview. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 53.8 ± 7.8 years with extremes of [38 - 72 years] and were predominantly females (57.4%), with a sex ratio of 0.80. There was a predominance of housewives and married couples with respectively 36.8% and 75.0% of patients. The majority of patients (77.9%) were Category A, that is, they were either asymptomatic or in the primary infection phase. 22.0% of patients were symptomatic, with 13.2% and 8.8% respectively belonging to categories B and C. The most observed opportunistic infections were shingles found in 7.3% of patients, oral candidiasis found in 5.9%, signs of weight loss (undernutrition) in 5.9% and genital herpes in 1.5% of patients. Four patients (4.7%) had hepatitis B. One case of tuberculosis (1.5%) was reported. The therapeutic combination of protease inhibitors (Lopinavir / ritonavir) was the most prescribed (94, 1% of patients), 58.8% of the patients had a CD4 level < 500/mm3, and 41.2% had CD4 level ≥ 500 cells/mm3. Plasma viral load was undetectable (≤ 10 copies / ml) in 70.6% of patients, 7.3% had a viral load of 10 to 50 copies / ml, and 19.1% of patients had a high viral load (≥ 101 copies / ml). Our study showed that the highest CD4 levels are observed in patients with undetectable viral load (˂ 10copies / mL). This established that the CD4 cell count and the plasma viral load value move in the opposite direction, and are two predictors of the evolution of HIV infection, and the virological and / or immunological response to HAAR

Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and T1 (GSTT1) variants and breast cancer risk in Burkina Faso

Breast cancer remains the most common cause of cancer mortality in women. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between genetic variability in GSTM1 and GSTT1 and susceptibility to breast cancer

Role of Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) genes in stages of HIV-1 infection among patients from Burkina Faso

A cluster of specialized KIR genes of specialized KIR genes has been shown to be associated with susceptibility or resistance to viral infections in humans. Therefore, this pilot study, this pilot investigation sought to determine the frequencies of KIR genes human immunodeficiency virus type 1( HIV-1) patients and establish their potential clinical involvement in disease progression and staging