[Spermiological Study Of Patients Treated For Infertility At The Medical Biology Laboratory Of Sikasso Hospital]

AIM

The aim of this study was to establish the spermiological profile of patients treated for infertility at Sikasso Hospital.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This was a prospective descriptive cross-sectional study, which took place from January to December 2022 at Sikasso Hospital. Interpretation of spermiological parameters was based on standards established by the World Health Organization in 2010.

RESULTS

We enrolled 41 patients, 51.22% of whom had disturbed spermiological parameters. The abnormalities were azoospermia (21.92%), asthenooligozoospermia (12.20%), asthenozoospermia (7.32%), oligozoospermia (7.32%) and asthenonecrozoospermia (2.44%). These anomalies were mainly observed in the 34-44 age group (47.62%).

CONCLUSION

This study revealed significant disturbances in spermiological parameters, with azoospermia being the most frequent abnormality.

No evidence of lymphatic filariasis transmission in Bamako urban setting after three mass drug administration rounds

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination activities started in Mali in 2005 in the most endemic areas and reached countrywide coverage in 2009. In 2004, the district of Bamako was endemic for LF with a prevalence of 1.5%. The current study was designed to determine LF endemicity level in the urban area of Bamako after three rounds of ivermectin and albendazole mass drug administration (MDA). A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 in Bamako city, consisting of human prevalence and entomological surveys. Volunteers aged 14 years and above were invited to participate and tested for evidence of Wuchereria bancrofti using night time blood thick smear microfilarial count and blood spots for LF antibodies using the SD BIOLINE Oncho/LF IgG4 Biplex rapid test (Ov16/Wb123). Mosquitoes were collected using CDC light and gravid traps and tested using molecular methods. Poolscreen software v2.0 was used to estimate vector transmission potential. Of the 899 volunteers, one (0.11%) was found to be positive for LF using the Oncho/LF IgG4 Biplex rapid test, and none was found to have Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae. No mosquitoes were found infected among 6174 Culex spp. (85.2%), 16 Anopheles gambiae s.l. (An. gambiae s.l.) (0.2%), 26 Aedes spp. (0.4%), 858 Ceratopogonidae (11.8%) and 170 other insects not identified (2.3%) tested. Our data indicate that there was no active LF transmission in the low prevalence urban district of Bamako after three MDA rounds. These data helped the National LF programme move forward towards the elimination goal.

Evaluation of mass drug administration for schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths in school-aged children in Bankass, Mali

BACKGROUND

In 2004, Mali implemented mass drug administration (MDA) aimed at controlling schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths. Despite several rounds of MDA, the health district of Bankass reported low coverage (64.8%) for praziquantel and albendazole in 2017, meaning that this district was still facing challenges in accomplishing the targeted 75% coverage. This study aimed to explore the barriers and gaps that hindered MDA implementation in Bankass.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed. Questionnaires were administrated to all school-aged children in randomly selected villages. Technical directors of community health centers and community drug distributors in the selected villages were included in the interviews.

RESULTS

A total of 2128 children and 52 health workers were interviewed. Coverage rates were 93.51% (1990/2128) for praziquantel and 95.25% (2027/2128) for albendazole. Among the untreated children, 31.63% (31/98) reported being unaware of the campaign and 26.53% (26/98) were unable to reach the distribution points. Most of the health workers suggested increasing incentives.

CONCLUSION

The data showed satisfactory coverage >90%, in contrast with lower rates initially reported by the district health information system. These results raise concerns about the reliability of programmatic data and highlight the importance of population-based surveys for the evaluation of control interventions.

[Surgical site infections at surgery service B of Point "G" hospital]

BACKGROUND

Surgical site infections (SSI) complicate most operations in developing countries. A variety of germs is responsible for it. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of surgical site infections and the bacteriological profile.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We conducted a prospective study for descriptive purposes. The included patients were treated between August 2016 and July 2017 in the Surgery B department of the University Hospital Center Point G. The study population consisted of all patients operated on and hospitalized for at least 72 hours. Patients who had an infection of the operative site were retained. The incidence of ISOs, the different bacterial strains and their susceptibility to antibiotics were studied. Data was analyzed on SPSS 12.0.

RESULTS

The incidence of surgical site infections was 4.7%. The median age of the patients was 29.5 ± 4.34, the sex ratio was 1.66. The average time to onset of infections was 7.33 days. Of the samples taken, 4 bacterial strains were identified: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinobacter baumanii and Enterobacter spp. Isolated strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were sensitive to Cefotaxim, Amikacin, Nitrofurantoin, but resistant to Ceftriaxon, Amoxicillin + Clavulanic acid. The species of Acinobacter baumanii and Enterococcus spp. Were sensitive to Colistin, but resistant to Ceftriaxone, Amoxicillin + clavulanic acid.

CONCLUSION

Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus are the main germs of the generally antibiotic-resistant ISOs commonly used in the service.

Fighting rabies in Africa: the Africa Rabies Expert Bureau (AfroREB)

Rabies experts from 14 francophone African countries met in Grand Bassam (Côte d'Ivoire), 10-13 March 2008. They presented the situation in their respective countries, acknowledging the lack of rabies awareness among the population, health care workers and health authorities. They recognized that infrastructure for the management of rabies exposure is scarce, modern vaccines are in limited quantity and immunoglobulins are lacking in most of their countries. They defined as a priority the need to have reliable figures on the disease burden, which is necessary for informed decision making and priority setting, and for applying for aid in controlling the disease. This meeting sealed the establishment of the Africa Rabies Expert Bureau (AfroREB).

[Detection of meningococcal meningitis epidemics in Africa: a new recommendation]

In sub-Saharan Africa, the control of meningococcal meningitis epidemics relies on early epidemic detection and mass vaccination. However, experience shows that interventions are often initiated too late to have a significant impact on the epidemic. A new recommendation drafted by participants of a consensus meeting proposes an alert threshold and an epidemic threshold based on the weekly number or incidence of meningitis cases, according to the population size and the epidemic risk, resulting in indicators with high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of an emerging epidemic. Meningitis outbreak investigations must include an assessment of the quality of epidemiologic surveillance. The new recommendation is published in English and French in the Weekly Epidemiologic Record [12]. The success of this consensus meeting shows the value of integrating results from surveillance, field experience and operational research for designing new health strategies.

Timely detection of meningococcal meningitis epidemics in Africa

BACKGROUND

Epidemics of meningococcal disease in Africa are commonly detected too late to prevent many cases. We assessed weekly meningitis incidence as a tool to detect epidemics in time to implement mass vaccination.

METHODS

Meningitis incidence for 41 subdistricts in Mali was determined from cases recorded in health centres (1989-98) and from surveillance data (1996-98). For incidence thresholds of 5 to 20 cases per 100000 inhabitants per week, we calculated sensitivity and specificity for detecting epidemics, and determined the time lapse between threshold and epidemic peak.

FINDINGS

We recorded 9084 meningitis cases. Clinic-based weekly incidence of 5 and 10 cases per 100000 inhabitants detected all meningitis epidemics (sensitivity 100%, 95% CI 93-100), with median threshold-to-peak time of 5 and 3 weeks. Under-reporting reduced sensitivity: only surveillance thresholds of 5 or 7 cases per 100000 inhabitants per week detected all epidemics. Crossing the lower threshold before the 10th calendar week doubled epidemic risk relative to crossing it later (relative risk 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2). At 10 cases per 100000 inhabitants per week, specificity for outbreak prediction was 88%, 95% CI 83-91). For populations under 30000, 3 to 5 cases in one or two weeks predicted epidemics with 85% to 97% specificity.

INTERPRETATION

Low meningitis thresholds improve timely detection of epidemics. Ten cases per 100000 inhabitants per week in one area confirm epidemic activity in a region, with few false alarms. An alert threshold of 5 cases per 100000 inhabitants per week allows time to investigate, prepare for an epidemic, and initiate mass vaccination where appropriate. For populations under 30000, the alert threshold is two cases in a week. High quality surveillance is essential.