HIV infection and mycobacterium tuberculosis drug-resistance among tuberculosis patients in Burkina Faso, West Africa

The aim of this study was to compare the drug-resistance patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains among pulmonary tuberculosis patients, according to their HIV serostatus, in Burkina Faso. Tuberculosis (TB) patients were classified in new and previously treated cases by using a structured questionnaire. Susceptibility testing to isoniazid, streptomycin, rifampicin and ethambutol was done by the proportion method. Association between HIV-serostatus and drug-resistant TB was assessed with χ2 tests, and the statistical significance was set to

Screening phytochimique de quelques plantes médicinales ivoiriennes utilisées en pays Krobou (Agboville, Côte-d’Ivoire)

Une étude ethnomédicinale réalisée chez les Krobou, une ethnie du Département d’Agboville (Côte-d’Ivoire), a montré que 27 tradithérapeutes utilisent 18 espèces de la flore ivoirienne, pour combattre différentes pathologies. Diverses parties de la plante (écorces de racine et de tige, feuilles, fruits, graines et tubercules) sont utilisées pour la préparation des recettes médicamenteuses. Ces recettes, monospécifiques en général, nécessitent divers modes de préparation (décoction, expression, infusion, macération, pétrissage, pilage, pulvérisation, ramollissement, torréfaction et trituration). On note divers modes d’administration des médicaments : ablution, application locale, badigeonnage, bain de vapeur, boisson, instillations buccales, nasales, vaginales et purges. Les tests tri phytochimiques réalisés sur 3 extraits (éthérique, méthanolique et aqueux) ont révélé que les différentes drogues renferment des stérols, polyterpènes, polyphénols, flavonoïdes, tanins catéchiques, alcaloïdes et des saponosides, qui leur confèrent les propriétés thérapeutiques diverses.An ethnomedicinal study carried out at Krobou, an ethnic group in the Department of Agboville (Côte-d’Ivoire) showed that 27 traditional doctors use 18 ivorian plants species to cure people to different pathologies. Various parts of the plant (barks of root and stem, sheets, fruits, seeds and tubers) are used to prepare the medicamentous receipts. These receipts which are generally monospecific, require different preparation modes (decoction, expression, infusion, soaking, kneading, pounding, crushing, softening, rousting and trituration). We note several administration modes of those medicines : washing, application on the skin, painting, steam bath, drinking, oral, nasal, vaginal instillations and purges. The tri phytochemical tests of three extracts (etheric, methanolic and aqueous) revealed that the different drugs contain sterols, polyterpenes, polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and saponosideswhich give these medicines several healing properties.Keywords: Agboville, chemical Components, Côte-d’Ivoire, Ethnomedicine, Krobou, Phytochemistr

Analyse du contexte institutionnel de gestion du changement climatique au Sénégal

Les changements et variabilités climatiques représentent des défis majeurs pour la mise en oeuvre des plans et politiques nationaux de développement. Le Sénégal, avec l’appui du programme « Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security » (CCAFS) a formé une Plateforme Multi-acteurs pour faciliter les échanges entre chercheurs et décideurs autours des questions d’adaptation du secteur de l’agriculture et de la Sécurité alimentaire au changement climatique. La présente étude est faite pour comprendre les goulots d’étranglement qui reposent sur la mise en oeuvre effective des politiques de changement climatique. L’étude révèle qu’au niveau national les actions stratégiques semblent tout au plus être définies avec des objectifs cloisonnés qui n'intègrent pas un cadre de référence concerté. L'insuffisance de synergie des différents départements ministériels disperse les efforts de l'Etat en matière de prévision et de planification des changements climatiques dans les stratégies politiques. En plus le déficit en ressources humaines de l’administration publique, notamment dans le secteur agricole après les réformes structurelles des années 90, a engendré un faible accès aux technologies agricoles et aux bonnes pratiques d’adaptation aux changements climatiques. Il a été démontré que la disponibilité de la technologie culturale pour l'adaptation, au moins à court terme, n'est pas un problème, mais c’est plutôt l'accessibilité à ces technologies qui est difficile. Les services d’encadrement et d’appui conseil sont généralement insuffisants en raison de contraintes financières et de compétences. Pour pallier à ces faits, il est nécessaire de mettre l’accent sur : la sensibilisation du monde rural sur les changements climatiques, faciliter l’accès aux formations et services climatiques, surtout dans secteurs de la pêche, de l’agriculture et de l’élevage

Risk factors associated with HIV prevalence in pregnant women in Burkina Faso, from 2006 to 2014

Purpose of the study: To determine the socio-demographic factors influencing the dynamics of HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Burkina Faso.Material and methods: A total of 66,597 pregnant women from the 13 health regions of Burkina Faso were included in this study conducted between 2006 and 2014. Venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for the detection of HIV antibodies according to WHO / UNAIDS strategy II, using the mixed test Vironostika HIV Uniform II Plus O (Bio-Mérieux) and the test discriminating ImmunoCombII HIV-1 & 2 BiSpot (Orgenics). Samples with discordant results between the two tests, as well as those positive to HIV-2 or HIV-1 + 2, were retested with HIV BLOT 2.2 (MP Diagnostics). Sociodemographic data collected from the participants were correlated with their HIV status to determine key risk factors influencing HIV infection prevalence in Burkina Faso.Results: Sociodemographic data showed that the study population consisted mainly of married women (91.2%) at their first pregnancy (27.1%) with a large majority of them being housewives (86.2%) who did not attend any form of schooling (69.4%). About 88.4% had stayed longer than a year in the health region where they initially participated in the study and 55.8% were between 20 and 29 years of age. Overall HIV prevalence significantly dropped from 2.7 % in 2006 to 1.3% in 2014. However HIV seroprevalence in this study has varied significantly according to socio-demographic characteristics including marital status, parity, occupation, education, age group and the length of stay in the women's health community (p <0.0001). Factors sustaining HIV transmission included the status of being unmarried (OR=1.67 [1.42-1.97]), primigest (OR=1.64 [1.41-1.89]), having other occupations except being student (OR = 1.68 [1.20-2.33]), aged between 20-49 years (OR=3.14 [2.51-3.93]) and the duration of stay less than a year in their locality (OR=5.33 [4.61-10.16]) and these factors were identified as main risk factors associated with HIV prevalence.Conclusion: Burkina Faso remains among the countries with concentrated epidemics despite a significant reduction in the prevalence observed in this study. The inclusion of identified risk factors in the national HIV program could improve the quality of the response to the epidemic.Keywords: HIV-Pregnant Women-Risk Factors-Burkina Fas

RECRUDESCENCE OF ONCHOCERCIASIS IN THE COMOÉ VALLEY IN SOUTHWEST BURKINA FASO.

: Onchocerciasis control by vector control was instigated in southwest Burkina Faso in January 1969 by ORSTOM/OCCGE, and continued until operations were taken over by the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) in February 1975, which itself ceased operations in the area in 1989 when onchocerciasis was judged to have been reduced to insignificant levels. Initially (1969-1975) vector immigration maintained unacceptably high levels of transmission, but OCP was much larger than the preceding campaign and in 1975 the Annual Transmission Potential (ATP) dropped below 100 at all sites in the Comoé river valley except Folonzo, which continued to be subject to reinvasion, along with the whole of the Léraba river valley. However, after the southern extension of the OCP in 1979, ATPs dropped below 100 everywhere in the Comoé basin (including the Léraba valley), and further dropped to insignificant levels after the western extension of the OCP in 1985. Thus transmission dropped more quickly in the Comoé river valley than the Léraba river valley (which had been subject to vector reinvasion), and this was also reflected in prevalence of microfilaraemia in the human population. After 1986 prevalence was less than 5% in all villages in the Comoé river valley (except for two, which subsequently dropped to 0% and 3.7% by 1999). However, in 2001 (12 years after the cessation of vector control) the prevalence in one village in the Comoé river valley had increased to 39.6%, and two more had increased above 5% by 2007. New epidemiological surveys in 2011 and 2012 showed that in 13 out of 30 villages in the Comoé river valley prevalence of microfilaraemia was above 5%, although this was not observed in the Léraba river valley where prevalence remained low. This is the first documented case of recrudescence of onchocerciasis in the old OCP area, and the reasons are not clear. It is possible that there has been immigration of parasites with humans or vectors from areas where there has been a shorter period of control, or that control has been less effective. It is possible that in spite of very low levels of transmission the local parasite population was never reduced to a level below the transmission breakpoint, or that there has been a local recrudescence due to stochastic population effects. In any case it is clear that the distribution of ivermectin against lymphatic filariasis in the area since 2004 has failed to prevent the recrudescence of onchocerciasis, and the Burkina Faso Programme National de Lutte contre l'Onchocercose (PNLO - Ministere de la Santé) has instigated a programme of Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin specifically aimed at onchocerciasis in accordance with the strategy developed by APOC and recommended to governments by OCP when it was dissolved in 2002.<br/

Effets oestrogéniques du macéré aqueux des feuilles de Holarrhena floribunda (G. Don) Dur & Schinz chez la rate ovariectomisée

Oestrogenic effects of macerated aqueous extracts of the leaves of Holarrhena fl oribunda (G. Don) Dur & Schinz on ovariectomized rat. Estrogenic effects of aqueous extracts of leaves of Holarrhena fl oribunda have been evaluated by uterotrophic assay. Ovariectomized mice were used and treated subcutaneously during seven days with 50, 100, 200 mg.kg-1 doses of Holarrhena fl oribunda and with 100, 200 mg.kg-1 doses of Holarrhena fl oribunda plus 25 mg.kg-1 of oestradiol 17-β. Estrogenic activity was analysed by uterine dry and wet weight, surrenal gland wet weight, vaginal opening, protein and cholesterol level in uteri horn. Administration of extracts to the doses of 100 and 200 mg.kg-1 exhibits increase of uterine dry and wet weight, surrenal gland wet weight, vaginal opening, protein levels and decrease of level of cholesterol in uterine horn. The results suggest that, aqueous extracts of Holarrhena fl oribunda possesses estrogenic type effect. But when 100 and 200 mg.kg-1 of Holarrhena fl oribunda were given alone with 25 mg.kg-1 of estradiol 17-β, the estrogenic effect was slight. These results supposed that H. fl oribunda is a weak phytoestrogen and the aqueous extracts of the leaves behad as partial agonisti

Heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions by sorption using natural clays from Burkina Faso

The acid-base properties of two raw and purified mixed clays from Burkina Faso were studied, as well as their potential to remove copper(II), lead(II) and chromium(III), and thereby their ability to be used to purify water from heavy metals. The purification procedure of the clays involved removal of carbonates, iron oxides and organic matter. A determination of the elemental composition of the mixed clays revealed the presence of aluminum, iron and silicon as main constituents. The high alkaline pH in one of the samples is attributable to the presence of carbonate in the raw clay. The point of zero charge (pHpzc) values of the clays, as determined by potentiometric titrations, were 6.79 and 9.52 for the raw clays, while after purification they were 6.87 and 6.76, respectively. Metal adsorption to the clay surfaces started at pH values below pHpzc, strongly indicating formation of inner-sphere complexes. With contact time of 48 h, complete removal of copper(II) was achieved at pH 8 for all samples. More than 90% of the lead(II) removal was attributed to adsorption while for chromium(III), it was 85%. Adsorption to organic matter and iron oxides, and precipitation of metal hydroxides gave significant contributions to the removal of metal ions in aqueous systems.Key words: Mixed clays, potentiometric titration, heavy metals, pHpzc

Molecular characterization of extended spectrum beta-lactamase among clinical multidrug resistant Escherichia Coli in two hospitals of Niamey, Niger

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the multiple ESBL genes in Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli isolated in various biological samples in two hospitals of Niamey.Methodology: A total of 195 multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli were included in the study. These isolates were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of the presence of bla CTX-M, bla TEM, bla SHV and bla OXA-1 beta-lactamase genes.Results: A total of 27.7% of Escherichia coli isolates were ESBL producing strains. Globaly, the bla TEM gene was the most prevalent (70.3%) followed by bla CTX-M (43.1%), bla OXA-1 (31.8%) and bla SHV (4.1%) genes. The four genes type of ESBL were founded simultaneously only in stool samples. Furthermore, none bla SHV gene was found in other samples type.Conclusion: This study showed the presence of various ESBL genes among clinical MDR Escherichia coli. That is why a rational use of antibiotic and appropriate methods of screening ESBL genes in routine laboratories in Niger is needed to control the ESBL genes dissemination.Keywords: MDR ,Escherichia coli, ESBL, bla genes, PCR, Niamey, Niger. Caracterisation moleculaire des betalactamases a spectre etendu chez les souches de Escherichia coli multi resistantes dans deux hopitaux de Niamey, au NigerObjectifs: Le but de cette étude était d'identifier les multiples gènes de BLSE chez les souches de Escherichia coli multi résistantes isolées de différents types d’échantillons biologiques dans deux hôpitaux de Niamey.Méthodologie : Un total de 195 Escherichia coli multi résistants a été inclus dans l'étude. Ces isolats ont été testés par la réaction de polymérase en chaîne (PCR) pour détecter la présence des gènes bla CTX-M, bla TEM, bla SHV et bla OXA-1.Résultats : Au total, 27,7% des isolats de Escherichia coli multi-résistants étaient des souches productrices de BLSE. Globalement le gène bla TEM (70,3%) était le plus détecté suivi des autres gènes bla CTX-M (43,1%), bla OXA-1 (31,8%) et bla SHV (4,1%). Notons que seul dans les échantillons de selles quatre types de gènes de BLSE ont été trouvés simultanément. Par ailleurs notons qu’aucun gène de type bla SHV n'a été trouvé dans les autres types d'échantillons.Conclusion : Cette étude avait montré la présence de divers gènes de BLSE chez les souches cliniques de Escherichia coli. C'est pourquoi une utilisation rationnelle des antibiotiques et des méthodes appropriées de dépistage des gènes de BLSE dans les laboratoires sont nécessaires afin de contrôler la diffusion des gènes de BLSE.Mots clés : Escherichia coli multi résistantes, BLSE, gènes bla, PCR, Niamey, Niger

Assessing Early Access to Care and Child Survival during a Health System Strengthening Intervention in Mali: A Repeated Cross Sectional Survey

Background: In 2012, 6.6 million children under age five died worldwide, most from diseases with known means of prevention and treatment. A delivery gap persists between well-validated methods for child survival and equitable, timely access to those methods. We measured early child health care access, morbidity, and mortality over the course of a health system strengthening model intervention in Yirimadjo, Mali. The intervention included Community Health Worker active case finding, user fee removal, infrastructure development, community mobilization, and prevention programming. Methods and Findings: We conducted four household surveys using a cluster-based, population-weighted sampling methodology at baseline and at 12, 24, and 36 months. We defined our outcomes as the percentage of children initiating an effective antimalarial within 24 hours of symptom onset, the percentage of children reported to be febrile within the previous two weeks, and the under-five child mortality rate. We compared prevalence of febrile illness and treatment using chi-square statistics, and estimated and compared under-five mortality rates using Cox proportional hazard regression. There was a statistically significant difference in under-five mortality between the 2008 and 2011 surveys; in 2011, the hazard of under-five mortality in the intervention area was one tenth that of baseline (HR 0.10, p<0.0001). After three years of the intervention, the prevalence of febrile illness among children under five was significantly lower, from 38.2% at baseline to 23.3% in 2011 (PR = 0.61, p = 0.0009). The percentage of children starting an effective antimalarial within 24 hours of symptom onset was nearly twice that reported at baseline (PR = 1.89, p = 0.0195). Conclusions: Community-based health systems strengthening may facilitate early access to prevention and care and may provide a means for improving child survival