HCV and HIV co-infection in pregnant women attending St. Camille Medical Centre in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Five hundred and forty-seven pregnant women with less than 32 weeks of amenorrhoea, attending an antenatal clinic of St. Camille Medical Centre (SCMC) of Ouagadougou were enrolled for a hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV co-infection study. Fifty-eight (10.6%) were HIV positive and 18 (3.3%) were anti-HCV positive. Only seven pregnant women (i.e., 1.3%) had a documented HIV and HCV co-infection. HCV-RNA was found in 5 out of 18 (27.8%) patients, who had anti-HCV antibodies. The genotype analysis of these five patients showed that two were of 1b whereas three were of 2a genotype. Mother-to-infant transmission of the same HCV genotype (2a) was documented in only one case. High 1b prevalence has been reported in other parts of Africa, while 2a is the prevalent genotype (60%) in Burkina Faso. This genotype has a higher response rate to treatment. Serum transaminases were normal, also in presence of HCV-RNA. The higher than expected rate of co-infection in Burkina Faso seems to demonstrate a correlation between these two infections, which could influence the evolution of HIV and HCV diseases.

[Obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus among school children in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)]

This paper deals with the findings of a survey conducted at the school environnement in Ouagadougou. Three factors of cardiovascular risks were identified: obesity, high blood pressure, and diabete millitus. The survey was based on a sample of 1470 students from primary and secondary schools consisted in taking their blood pressure, measuring they weight and height and glycaemia using dextrostix. Of the 1470 students targeted, 668 were girls and 782 were boys. Their age ranges between 4 and 25 years with average age of 13.8 years. 55 % of the students had an average socio-economic backgrounds. 58 students or 3.94% had high blood pressure including 50 cases of maximum high blood pressure and 8 cases of confirmed high blood pressure (HBP). A diastolic HBP predominance among 48 cases or 3.26% was also recorded. While 1 case showed systolic HBP, 6 were systolo-diastolic. The quetelet index used to determine obesity revealed 28 cases of excess in weight or 1.90% of the cases and 4 cases of obesity, or 0.28%. The predominance of excess in weight was statistically significant among girls. Only 1 case of obesity was associated with high blood pressure. No case of diabetes was identified. The factors of cardiovascular risk seem to be statistically important in school environnement in Ouagadougou. However, an muticentered study is recommended, as it will lead to an exhaustive knowledge of the prevalence of these factors of cardiovascular risk.