scholarly journals Malaria and Chikungunya Detected Using Molecular Diagnostics Among Febrile Kenyan Children

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Waggoner ◽  
Julie Brichard ◽  
Francis Mutuku ◽  
Bryson Ndenga ◽  
Claire Jane Heath ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is frequently overdiagnosed as the cause of an undifferentiated febrile illness, whereas arboviral illnesses are presumed to be underdiagnosed. Methods Sera from 385 febrile Kenyan children, who presented to 1 of 4 clinical sites, were tested using microscopy and real-time molecular assays for dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), malaria, and Leptospira. Results Malaria was the primary clinical diagnosis for 254 patients, and an arboviral infection (DENV or CHIKV) was the primary diagnosis for 93 patients. In total, 158 patients (41.0%) had malaria and 32 patients (8.3%) had CHIKV infections. Compared with real-time polymerase chain reaction, microscopy demonstrated a percent positive agreement of 49.7%. The percentage of malaria cases detected by microscopy varied significantly between clinical sites. Arboviral infections were the clinical diagnosis for patients on the Indian Ocean coast (91 of 238, 38.2%) significantly more often than patients in the Lake Victoria region (2 of 145, 1.4%; P < .001). However, detection of CHIKV infections was significantly higher in the Lake Victoria region (19 of 145 [13.1%] vs 13 of 239 [5.4%]; P = .012). Conclusions The clinical diagnosis of patients with an acute febrile illness, even when aided by microscopy, remains inaccurate in malaria-endemic areas, contributing to inappropriate management decisions.

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga ◽  
Charles Ndungu

UN-HABITAT's experiences in the Lake Victoria region and Sub-Saharan Africa show that the underlying causes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its consequences on urban development must be urgently and comprehensively addressed. The epidemic affects all sectors of urban development, including housing, transportation, water, and access to health services. Development agencies, whose mission is urban development, have thus started to recognise that achieving their objectives is difficult without addressing and mitigating the impact of the epidemic. A comprehensive policy and programming is required to mitigate both the spread and the effects of the epidemic. Consequently, UN-HABITAT, working with partners and city authorities around Lake Victoria, has embarked on an HIV/AIDS mainstreaming strategy in its Slum Upgrading and Poverty Reduction programme. Related activities and lessons are presented.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele De Palma ◽  
Hitoshi Takano

SummaryThe Goliath beetles (subtribe Goliathina) are large Cetoniinae comprising a few highly related genera broadly distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. The genus Fornasinius Bertoloni was established in 1853 by Giuseppe Bertoloni to receive a taxon that was sufficiently distinct from the known representatives of the genus Goliathus Lamarck to merit a different placement. In spite of their large size and showy appearance, the members of the genus Fornasinius are poorly known. Here, the type species of the genus, F. fornasini Bertoloni, 1853 (type locality: Mozambique), is identified and re-described. It has emerged that F. fornasini Bertoloni has been misidentified after its original description and that only a few specimens are known of this species. F. fornasini sensu auct. (nec Bertoloni) is instead referable to another taxon, F. hauseri Kraatz, 1896 sp. bon., of which three subspecies can be distinguished: F. hauseri s. str., from south-central Kenya and possibly Cameroon; F. hauseri ssp. hirthi Preiss, 1904 stat. rev., from the Lake Victoria region and northern Tanzania; and a new subspecies to be described from south-east Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Tempo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-481
Author(s):  
Malyn Newitt

Abstract: Portuguese creoles were instrumental in bringing sub-Saharan Africa into the intercontinental systems of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In the Atlantic Islands a distinctive creole culture emerged, made up of Christian emigrants from Portugal, Jewish exiles and African slaves. These creole polities offered a base for coastal traders and became politically influential in Africa - in Angola creating their own mainland state. Connecting the African interior with the world economy was largely on African terms and the lack of technology transfer meant that the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world inexorably widened. African slaves in Latin America adapted to a society already creolised, often through adroit forms of cultural appropriation and synthesis. In eastern Africa Portuguese worked within existing creolised Islamic networks but the passage of their Indiamen through the Atlantic created close links between the Indian Ocean and Atlantic commercial systems.


2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Epis ◽  
M. Montagna ◽  
F. Comandatore ◽  
C. Damiani ◽  
A. Diabaté ◽  
...  

The acetic acid bacterium <em>Asaia</em> spp. was successfully detected in <em>Anopheles arabiensis</em> Patton, 1905, one of the major vector of human malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. A collection of 45 <em>Asaia</em> isolates in cellfree media was established from 20 individuals collected from the field in Burkina Faso. 16S rRNA universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and specific qPCR, for the detection of <em>Asaia</em> spp. were performed in order to reveal the presence of different bacterial taxa associated with this insect. The isolates were typed by internal transcribed spacer-PCR, BOX-PCR, and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR, proved the presence of different <em>Asaia</em> in <em>A. arabiensis</em>.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. e001396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bamba Gaye ◽  
Massamba Diop ◽  
Kumar Narayanan ◽  
Lucile Offredo ◽  
Peter Reese ◽  
...  

BackgroundIt is thought that low-income countries are undergoing an epidemiological transition from infectious to non-communicable diseases; however, this phenomenon is yet to be examined with long-term data on morbidity.MethodsWe performed a prospective evaluation of all emergency medical consultations at a major emergency service provider in Dakar, Senegal from 2005 to 2014. Using standardised definitions, the primary diagnosis for each consultation was classified using the International Classification of Diseases-10 and then broadly categorised as ‘infectious’, ‘non-communicable’ and ‘other’ diseases. Morbidity rates for each year in the 10-year observation period were plotted to depict the epidemiological transition over time. To quantify the yearly rate ratios of non-communicable over infectious diagnosis, we used a generalised Poisson mixed model.ResultsComplete data were obtained from 49 702 visits by African patients. The mean age was 36.5±23.2 and 34.8±24.3 years for women and men, respectively. Overall, infections accounted for 46.3% and 42.9% and non-communicable conditions 32.2% and 40.1% of consultations in women and men, respectively. Consultation for non-communicable compared with infectious conditions increased by 7% every year (95% CI: 5% to 9%; p<0.0001) over the 10 years. Consultations for non-communicable condition were more likely in women compared with men (RR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.40) and at older ages (RR=1.27; 95% CI 1.25, 1.29 for 10-year increase in age).ConclusionUsing high-quality disease morbidity data over a decade, we provide novel data showing the epidemiological transition of diseases as manifested in emergency service consultations in a large Sub-Saharan African city. These results can help reorientation of healthcare policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve M Taylor ◽  
Brandt Levitt ◽  
Betsy Freedman ◽  
Mwayiwawo Madanitsa ◽  
Kyaw-Lay Thwai ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is used as intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy (IPTp) for malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. The resistance marker dhps A581G has been associated with reduced IPTp-SP efficacy and enhanced morbidity in SP recipients. Methods We measured SP-resistance allele frequencies in Malawian women participating in a trial comparing IPTp with SP against intermittent screening by rapid diagnostic tests (ISTp). We genotyped polymerase chain reaction-detected parasites using deep sequencing of SP-resistance alleles. Results Among 125 placental infections, A581G-bearing parasites were associated with reduced birth weight (mean difference [MD], 252 g; 95% confidence interval [CI], 46–457; P = .017). Relative to ISTp, IPTp-SP was associated with higher birth weights in women with wild-type parasites (MD, 116 g; 95% CI, −40 to 272; P = .142) and lower birth weights in women with A581G-bearing parasites (MD, 192 g; 95% CI, −264 to 648; P = .385) (Pinteraction = .033). Similar associations were noted on gestational age (Pinteraction = .075). Amongst only IPTp-SP recipients, relative to women who last received SP &gt; 4 weeks before delivery, recent SP receipt was associated with lower birth weight in women with wild-type parasites (MD, 118 g; 95% CI, −376 to 139; P = .361) and higher birth weight in women with A581G-bearing parasites (MD, 783 g; 95% CI, −20 to 1586; P = .054) (Pinteraction = .005). Conclusions The effectiveness in birth weight of IPTp-SP is compromised by A581G-bearing parasites, but there was no evidence that the adverse effects of these parasites are exacerbated by antenatal SP. ISRCTN Registry www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN69800930.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e035632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Hopkins ◽  
Quique Bassat ◽  
Clare IR Chandler ◽  
John A Crump ◽  
Nicholas A Feasey ◽  
...  

IntroductionFever commonly leads to healthcare seeking and hospital admission in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There is only limited guidance for clinicians managing non-malarial fevers, which often results in inappropriate treatment for patients. Furthermore, there is little evidence for estimates of disease burden, or to guide empirical therapy, control measures, resource allocation, prioritisation of clinical diagnostics or antimicrobial stewardship. The Febrile Illness Evaluation in a Broad Range of Endemicities (FIEBRE) study seeks to address these information gaps.Methods and analysisFIEBRE investigates febrile illness in paediatric and adult outpatients and inpatients using standardised clinical, laboratory and social science protocols over a minimum 12-month period at five sites in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeastern and Southern Asia. Patients presenting with fever are enrolled and provide clinical data, pharyngeal swabs and a venous blood sample; selected participants also provide a urine sample. Laboratory assessments target infections that are treatable and/or preventable. Selected point-of-care tests, as well as blood and urine cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, are performed on site. On day 28, patients provide a second venous blood sample for serology and information on clinical outcome. Further diagnostic assays are performed at international reference laboratories. Blood and pharyngeal samples from matched community controls enable calculation of AFs, and surveys of treatment seeking allow estimation of the incidence of common infections. Additional assays detect markers that may differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial causes of illness and/or prognosticate illness severity. Social science research on antimicrobial use will inform future recommendations for fever case management. Residual samples from participants are stored for future use.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from all relevant institutional and national committees; written informed consent is obtained from all participants or parents/guardians. Final results will be shared with participating communities, and in open-access journals and other scientific fora. Study documents are available online (https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.04652739).


Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 2343-2369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farahnaz Koleini ◽  
Philippe Colomban ◽  
Innocent Pikirayi ◽  
Linda C. Prinsloo

Glass beads have been produced and traded for millennia all over the world for use as everyday items of adornment, ceremonial costumes or objects of barter. The preservation of glass beads is good and large hoards have been found in archaeological sites across the world. The variety of shape, size and colour as well as the composition and production technologies of glass beads led to the motivation to use them as markers of exchange pathways covering the Indian Ocean, Africa, Asia, Middle East, the Mediterranean world, Europe and America and also as chronological milestones. This review addresses the history of glass production, the methodology of identification (morphology, colour, elemental composition, glass nanostructure, colouring and opacifying agents and secondary phases) by means of laboratory based instruments (LA-ICP-MS, SEM-EDS, XRF, NAA, Raman microspectroscopy) as well as the mobile instruments (pXRF, Raman) used to study glass beads excavated from sub-Saharan African sites. Attention is paid to the problems neglected such as the heterogeneity of glass (recycled and locally reprocessed glass). The review addresses the potential information that could be extracted using advanced portable methods of analysis.


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