Screening for Chronic Infectious Diseases by Serology in Those Presenting with Malaria in London, United Kingdom

Author(s):  
Alison Gowland ◽  
Emma McGuire ◽  
Anna L. Goodman

The United Kingdom’s cases of malaria infection are primarily acquired in sub-Saharan Africa, with the majority of infections presenting in London.1 When patients go to a hospital with malaria, there is a screening opportunity for other geographically associated chronic infections. We identified patients who were diagnosed with malaria after presenting to our emergency department in London over a 2-year period, to assess whether there may be clinical benefit in screening for chronic viral (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV) or parasitic (schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis) infection in this cohort. Over this period, 131 patients were diagnosed with malaria. Crude seropositivity rates for HIV, hepatitis B, and strongyloidiasis were higher than expected compared with local population estimates, 7 and 28 times higher for HIV and hepatitis B, respectively. Those patients with previously unidentified cases were offered appropriate treatment. These findings support the potential clinical and public health benefits of screening for other infectious diseases in the context of a malaria diagnosis.

Author(s):  
Kady Diatta ◽  
William Diatta ◽  
Alioune Dior Fall ◽  
Serigne Ibra Mbacké Dieng ◽  
Amadou Ibrahima Mbaye ◽  
...  

Viral etiologies especially viral hepatitis B remain an area of concern sub-Saharan Africa with a variable prevalence between countries. Ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants used in the treatment of viral hepatitis, in particular, viral hepatitis B, was conducted in the District of Dakar (Senegal). Forty-two participants were surveyed, which included  18 herbalists, 19 Traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs)and 5 resource persons. Fifty-one plant species were documented from forty-seven genera and thirty families. The most frequently mentioned families were; Fabaceae (11 species); Meliaceae, (4 species); Rubiaceae and Combretaceae (3 species each); Annonnacaea, Malvaceae, Rutaceae and Asteraceae (2 species each). All other families were represented by a single species. The decoction was the most common method of préparation (66.66%).  Leaves and trunk bark were the plant parts of the plant most used. The most commonly used species were: Tinospora bakis (85.71%), Gardiena ternifolia (73.8%), Calotropis procera (71.42%), Carica papaya (66.66%), Citrus aurantifolia (64.28%) and Cochlospermum tinctorium (61.9%). It is concluded that the hepatoprotective properties of these plants are certainly induced by chemical compounds that will have to be identified later through phytochemical research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Yann Forget ◽  
Michal Shimoni ◽  
Marius Gilbert ◽  
Catherine Linard

By 2050, half of the net increase in the world’s population is expected to reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driving high urbanization rates and drastic land cover changes. However, the data-scarce environment of SSA limits our understanding of the urban dynamics in the region. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) is an opportunity to gather accurate and up-to-date spatial information on urban extents. During the last decade, the adoption of open-access policies by major EO programs (CBERS, Landsat, Sentinel) has allowed the production of several global high resolution (10–30 m) maps of human settlements. However, mapping accuracies in SSA are usually lower, limited by the lack of reference datasets to support the training and the validation of the classification models. Here we propose a mapping approach based on multi-sensor satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Envisat, ERS) and volunteered geographic information (OpenStreetMap) to solve the challenges of urban remote sensing in SSA. The proposed mapping approach is assessed in 17 case studies for an average F1-score of 0.93, and applied in 45 urban areas of SSA to produce a dataset of urban expansion from 1995 to 2015. Across the case studies, built-up areas averaged a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between 1995 and 2015. The comparison with local population dynamics reveals the heterogeneity of urban dynamics in SSA. Overall, population densities in built-up areas are decreasing. However, the impact of population growth on urban expansion differs depending on the size of the urban area and its income class.


Author(s):  
Rhoda Leask ◽  
Kenneth P. Pettey ◽  
Gareth F. Bath

Heartwater is a serious limiting factor for sheep and goat production in the major endemic area of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore most knowledge, research and control methods originate from this region. Whilst the usual or common clinical presentations can be used to make a presumptive diagnosis of heartwater with a good measure of confidence, this is not always the case, and animals suffering from heartwater may be misdiagnosed because their cases do not conform to the expected syndrome, signs and lesions. One aberrant form found occasionally in the Channel Island breeds of cattle and some goats is an afebrile heartwaterlike syndrome. The most constant and characteristic features of this heartwater-like syndrome comprise normal temperature, clinical signs associated with generalised oedema, and nervous signs, especially hypersensitivity. The presumption that the disease under investigation is the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome entails a tentative diagnosis based on history and clinical signs and the response to presumed appropriate treatment (metadiagnosis). The afebrile heartwater-like syndrome presents similarly to peracute heartwater but without the febrile reaction. Peracute cases of heartwater have a high mortality rate, enabling confirmation of the disease on post-mortem examination. Recognition of the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome is important to prevent deaths and identify the need for appropriate control measures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Sellier ◽  
Sarah Maylin ◽  
Rishma Amarsy ◽  
Marie-Christine Mazeron ◽  
Lucile Larrouy ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 128 (17-18) ◽  
pp. 658-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enver Yüksel ◽  
Erdem Akbal ◽  
Erdem Koçak ◽  
Ömer Akyürek ◽  
Seyfettin Köklü ◽  
...  

BMC Medicine ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailemichael Desalegn ◽  
Hanna Aberra ◽  
Nega Berhe ◽  
Bitsatab Mekasha ◽  
Kathrine Stene-Johansen ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
N. S. Karnayeva ◽  
L. U. Ulukhanova ◽  
A. G. Gadzhimirzaevа ◽  
S. G. Agaevа

The analysis of the epidemiological situation of vaccine-preventable infections in the Republic of Dagestan. The introduction of mass vaccine prophylaxis had a positive effect on reducing the incidence of infections such as poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, rubella, and viral hepatitis B in the Republic of Dagestan. However, despite the ongoing routine immunization of the population for “controlled” infections, the incidence of measles and parotitis infection remains high in 2018, this is due to an increase in the number of people who refuse to receive preventive vaccinations, in most cases, for religious reasons.


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