Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) plays a crucial role in resistance to mycobacterial infections, as it is a regulatory cytokine that acts as a pro-inflammatory mediator. Consequently, variants in the gene encoding this cytokine may be associated with a high risk of contracting pulmonary tuberculosis. The present study aimed to investigate the genetic susceptibility of polymorphisms in the gene coding for IFN-γ to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Burkina Faso. This cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2023 to January 2024. Venous blood was collected from suspected cases. Tuberculosis was confirmed by GeneXpert (CEPHEID). Human genomic DNA was extracted using the salting-out extraction technique, followed by the amplification and genotyping of IFN-γ gene polymorphisms,through the conventional PCR. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS and Epi info software. A total of 168 participants were included in the study, with an average age of 38.58 ±14.88, the majority of whom were men (76.19%). In our study population, 73.2% (123/168) were confirmed positive for tuberculosis. Some 46.4% (78/168) of the previous cases were contacts. Of these contact cases, 82.05% (64/78) were GeneXpert positive. The genotypic frequencies of the IFN-γ gene were distributed as follows: 73.3% (AA), 21.8% (AT) and 4.9% (TT), with a frequency of 84.2% for the A allele versus 15.8% for the mutated T allele. No statistically significant association was found between IFN-γ gene polymorphisms and M. tuberculosis infection in Burkina Faso. IFN-γ gene polymorphisms (IFN +874T/A) do not appear to be associated with M. tuberculosis infection in Burkina Faso.

Introduction: Microbiology of effusion fluids in children in Burkina Faso is characterized by the scarcity of data. This work aimed to study the bacteriological and antibiotics susceptibility profile of bacteria involved in effusion fluid infections in paediatrics in order to improve the choice of probabilistic antibiotics therapy. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was used in children aged 0 to 15 years from 2017 to 2020 at the Charles De Gaulle Pediatric University Hospital Center (CHUP-CDG) in Ouagadougou. Classical bacteriology methods such as macroscopy, Gram staining, identification galleries and antibiotics susceptibility testing were used. Results: Of 231 samples, 64 bacteria were isolated. The most common bacterial strains of pleural fluid were Staphylococcus aureus (25%) and 40% for Enterobacteriaceae. Of the peritoneal fluid, 77% were Enterobacteriaceae with 57% Escherichia coli; and from joint fluid, 33% were S. aureus and 22% for P. aeruginosa. The overall susceptibility profile showed 29% extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL), 10% methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and 8% carbapenemases. Conclusion: Bacteriological profile is characterized by ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae and MRSA. The most active antibiotics were macrolides, aminoglycosides, and cefoxitin (methicillin) for Gram-positive cocci, carbapenems, and aminoglycosides for Gram-negative bacilli. Then, the monitoring of antibiotics resistance must be permanent.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) Infection remains a public health problem and a threat to blood transfusion safety. The aim of this study was to summarise the scientific literature on the seroprevalence of HBV and occult HBV among blood donors in Africa. Searches were carried out in PubMed, Science Direct, Global Index Medicus and African Journals Online from 2012 to 2022. Dersimonian and Laird's random-effects model-based method was used for statistical analyses to estimate pooled seroprevalence at a 95% confidence interval (CI) using STATA version 14 software. Heterogeneity was assessed on the basis of Cochran's Q test and quantified by the I2 index. The methodological quality of the articles was assessed using the Joanna Brigg Institute's critical appraisal checklist. Among 90 articles included, 86 reported data in serological test that a pooled HBV seroprevalence of 5.53% (95% CI: 4.56-6.58; I2 = 99.94%) and 14 provided occult hepatitis B data. A high prevalence of 9.69% (95% CI: 8.42-11.03) was observed in the West African region. Lowest prevalence was 1.22% (95% CI: 0.74-1.83) in South Africa region. Prevalence in Africa among men was: 5.18% (95% CI: 3.97-6.54) and in women: 3.50% (95% CI: 2.45-4.71) (I2 = 99.76% and p < 0.01). While the overall pooled prevalence of occult hepatitis B was 3.18% (95% CI: 1.29-5.81). HBV seroprevalence is high in low-resource areas of Africa, and the data generated by this situation calls for constant epidemiological surveillance. Emphasis must be placed on building blood donor loyalty and integrating molecular testing into the biological qualification of blood donations.

Gastroenteritis is a public health problem in developing countries such as Burkina Faso. The introduction of the RotaShield rotavirus vaccine in the early 1980s had the side-effect of causing acute intestinal invaginations, which led to the introduction of surveillance. The aim of this study is to review the serotypes of rotavirus identified. This retrospective study consisted in collecting data on group A rotavirus serotypes identified from stool samples using a rapid diagnostic test, confirmed by an ELISA test and then serotyped by real-time multiplex RT-PCR. A total of 840 suspect stools were collected between December 2013 and December 2017. Confirmed cases represented an average of 37.7%. Genotyping identified the P6(59.6%) and P8(40.4%) types of the P genotype in the VP4 genotype and G12 which predominates with 66% in the VP7 genotype followed by G3 23.4%. The genotypes most involved in gastroenteritis are serotypes P6 and P8 of the P genotype and serotypes G1, G2, G3, G9 and G12 of the G genotype in this study showed that.

Background: Dengue fever is a vector-borne disease that raises a major public health problem worldwide, particularly in Burkina Faso. The gold standard diagnosis is based on the research of viral RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) during the first days, or the presence of specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) by serological tests or the isolation of the virus. Burkina Faso reported a localized outbreak of dengue fever in 2016. This study aimed to evaluate dengue fever seroprevalence among children aged 0-5 years. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study which covered the period from January 2016 to December 2019 and involved 621 suspected cases of children aged 0-5 years at the Charles de Gaulle University Paediatric Hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from Results: Of the suspected cases,189 were confirmed positive to dengue fever with a seroprevalence of 30.47%. Among positive cases, young children (1 to 29 months age group) were the most represented, with a sex ratio (M/F) of 1.15 in favor of males (53.44%) of dengue cases. Clinical symptoms were polymorphous. Fever (86.24%), algic syndrome (75.13%) and vomiting (46.03%) were the most frequent clinical manifestations. The majority of patients (28.57%) had positive IgG serology. The main biological feature was thrombocytopenia (26.50%), (p=0.039). Conclusion: This study confirms the emergence of this disease in young children, as mentioned in previous studies. Improving the technical facilities in our hospitals, providing ongoing training for healthcare workers in the management of this disease and disseminating the national protocol for the management of dengue fever could improve the situation. Keywords: Seroprevalence, Dengue Fever, Children, Burkina Fas. Impact of Employee Compensation and Benefits on Operating Performance This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Copyright © Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

Malaria-endemic countries in Africa have recorded the lowest number of covid-19 cases and deaths compared to other countries. Pre-existing Naturally acquired Immunity to malaria was an hypothesis that was stated to explain this situation. In a context where malaria is endemic, we carried out this study in order to investigate the existence of antibody cross-reactivity between COVID-19 and malaria and to estimate the seroprevalence of COVID-19 during the third year of the pandemic in the plateau central Region in Burkina Faso. Samples collected in 2007 and positive for IgG against Plasmodium falciparum alpha-helical coiled coil proteins were used to look for a possible antibody cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Samples collected in 2022 were used to estimate the seroprevalence of COVID-19. A total of 628 individuals of both sexes, aged over 5 years were enrolled. The seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was measured using an ELISA test and an RDT. All the samples collected in 2007 showed no cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 and Plasmodium falciparum. The seroprevalence during the third year of the pandemic was 100% and 86.88% respectively by ELISA and RDT. The proportions of IgG and IgM antibodies were respectively 86.56% and 2.81%. The results did not show antibody cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV2 and Plasmodium falciparum in the study population. High exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was found in the study area in 2022. Due to their high specificity, WANTAI ELISA and Right Sign RDT can be considered as good serological tools for COVID-19 serosurveillance in a context where malaria is endemic.

The ACE2 gene polymorphisms (rs143936283, rs146676783, and rs4646116) in infected and noninfected persons by SARS-CoV-2 in Burkina Faso. Our cross-sectional study population comprised 137 SARS-CoV-2 infected persons and 181 non-infected persons. Three ACE2 gene polymorphisms rs143936283, rs146676783, and rs4646116, were genotyped using the real-time PCR standard TaqMan allelic discrimination technique. The association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the polymorphisms were evaluated by a binary logistic regression. There was no association between the polymorphisms rs143936283, rs4646116 haplotypes, and SARS-CoV-2 infection in our study population. However, in the female population, the heterozygous genotype CT of rs146676783 increased by two and half the risk (OR=2.58 95%CI (1.2-5.48), p= 0.014) of being infected by SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, carrying the homozygous minor allele (genotype TT) of rs146676783 increased by more than five and half the risk (OR=5.57 95%CI (1.64-18.78), p=0.006) of being infected by SARS-CoV-2 among females. This study showed that the ACE2 gene variant rs146676783 was associated with an increased risk of being infected by SARS-CoV-2 in females, suggesting a need for further investigation to contribute to a better understanding of the African COVID-19 enigma.

Salmonella spp and Shigella spp are implicated in gastroenteritis. The increasing antibiotic resistance of these pathogenic bacteria is a public health problem in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of Salmonella spp and Shigella spp strains isolated from coprocultures at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pédiatrique Charles De Gaulle (CHUP-CDG). This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were collected from 1 January 2018 to 30 April 2022 from patients in whom Salmonella spp and Shigella spp strains were identified from coprocultures at the biomedical analysis laboratory. The study population consisted of patients whose stool culture samples were received and analysed during the study period with complete data. Five thousand four hundred and eighty-seven (5487) coprocultures were performed during the study period, of which 1.6% (87/5487) were positive for Salmonella spp and Shigella spp 45.97% of the patients were aged between 1 and 29 months. Also, 54.02% were male, giving a sex ratio of 1.18 in favour of males. Salmonella spp and Shigella spp were susceptible to ceftriaxone (82.5%), imipenem (70.84%), ciprofloxacin (64.17%), chloramphenicol (63.33%), gentamicin (62.5%) and cefepime (57.5%). This study revealed a wide variety of Salmonella spp and Shigella spp serotypes circulating at the CHUP-CDG. As a result, the most commonly used and affordable antibiotics no longer appear to be effective against these strains.

Purpose: The emergence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae is a public health problem in tropical countries such as Burkina Faso. Antibiotic resistance could be identified using a variety of approaches. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of pathogenic enterobacteria strains from three sources, as well as their antibiotic resistance profile to biotope and climatic season. Material and Methods: The methodological approach consisted of identifying Enterobacteriaceae from human (urine, stool), animal (eggs, milk, fish), and environmental (soil, lettuce) samples, followed by assessing their antibiotic susceptibility. Samples were collected from February to December 2023. Bacterial species were isolated and phenotypically identified (morphologically, culturally, biochemically, and antigenically) using standard methods. The prevalence of bacterial susceptibility to ten antibiotics was determined using the agar disk diffusion method. The collected data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software. Results: A total of 615 Enterobacteriaceae isolates were collected, including 300, 168, and 147 samples from human, animal, and environmental sources respectively. Phenotypic characteristics allowed to partially identify 43 species, among these 29.76% belonged to Escherichia coli, 24.72% to Enterobacter cloacae, 13. 82% to Klebsiella pneumoniae, 3.41% to Enterobacter sakazakii and 2.6% to Klebsiella oxytoca. Bacterial resistance rates were: aminopenicillins (54.8%), first-generation cephalosporins (35.3%), sulfonamides (33.3%), third-generation cephalosporins (30.7%), fourth-generation cephalosporins (22.5%), fluoroquinolones (21.8%), phenicols (16.8%), and carbapenems (16.2%). The distribution of antibiotic resistance was 45.3% from human sources, 19.3% from animal sources, and 13.8% from environmental sources. Conclusion: The results indicate that resistant bacteria can come from any of the three biotopes, with human origin being the most frequent. The high prevalence of resistance to the antibiotics tested in isolated bacteria raises interest in investigating the genetic factors

BackgroundIn Burkina Faso, only 70% of people living with HIV knew their status in 2018, while the first 95 target of the UNAIDS suggests that by 2025 at least 95% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) know their HIV status. Female sex workers (FSW) are one of the most HIV-vulnerable groups, making it crucial to estimate the rate and associated factors of HIV testing among FSW.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study focused on FSW in five main cities of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, Tenkodogo, and Ouahigouya). A respondent-driven sampling (RDS) approach was used to recruit participants. Data were collected through in-person interviews between June and August 2022. The HIV testing rate in the past twelve months was examined by sociodemographic characteristics and risky behaviors. A modified Poisson regression in a generalized estimating equation with an exchangeable correlation structure was used to explore the associated factors of HIV testing.ResultsOf 1338 FSW (average age: 27.6 +/- 7.25 years) HIV negative, 57.8% (95% CI: 54.2-61.3) reported having been tested for HIV in the last 12 months. Among those who started sex work before the age of 18, 48.0% (95% CI: 39.1-57.1) reported having been tested for HIV in the last 12 months. The HIV testing rate among FSWs within the last 12 months was independently associated with age, education level, and being member of an FSW supportive association. Indeed, FSW aged 25 years and more had a 14% higher rate of being tested for HIV within 12 months compared to those 15 to 24 years old (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 1.14 [95%CI: 1.05-1.24]). The HIV testing rate among those who are not members of an FSW supportive association was 16% lower (aPR: 0.84 [95%CI: 0.72-0.97]) than those who are members of FSW supportive associations.ConclusionThe HIV testing rate among FSW is low in Burkina Faso, suggesting an important challenge to reach the first 95% target of UNAIDS among FSW. Innovative diagnostic strategies for the early identification of HIV-infected FSW are essential to achieve the first 95 target by 2025 in Burkina Faso.

Introduction: The epidemiology of both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among drug users (DUs) is little known in West Africa.The study aimed to assess the prevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses among drug users in Burkina Faso.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional biological and behavioral survey conducted between June and August 2022, among drug users in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, the two main cities of Burkina Faso.A respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to recruit drug users.Hepatitis B surface antigen was determined using lateral flow rapid test kits and antibodies to hepatitis C virus in serum determined using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay.Data were entered and analyzed using Stata 17 software.Weighted binary logistic regression was used to identify the associated factors of hepatitis B and C infections and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: A total of 323 drug users were recruited with 97.5% males.The mean age was 32.7 years old.The inhaled or smoked mode was the most used by drug users.The adjusted hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevalence among study participants were 11.1% and 2.3% respectively.The marital status (p = 0.001), and the nationality (p = 0.011) were significantly associated with hepatitis B infection.The type of drug used was not significantly associated with hepatitis B infection or hepatitis C infection.Conclusion: The prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies among DUs

Several plants in Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso, serve as therapeutic healing tools due to their health benefits. Among these plants, we can cite Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, and Vittelaria paradoxa; the knowledge of their different therapeutic properties remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to verify in vitro the antimicrobial activity of Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, and Vittelaria paradoxa barks on multi-resistant clinical bacteria strains isolated from the Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital (CHU-YO) patients in Ouagadougou. A survey was carried out among herbal tea sellers in four markets in Ouagadougou on the use of these plants. Sampling consisted of taking the plant barks and their transformation into extracts by maceration. Microdilution has been used to study the antimicrobial properties of the barks of these plants. The plant extracts were tested on four pathogenic strains: Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Staphylococcus aureus. Vittelaria paradoxa showed more effectiveness on Bacillus cereus than Lannea microcarpa and Parkia biglobosa. For the Escherichia coli strain, the extract of Vittelaria paradoxa had more antimicrobial properties than that of Parkia biglobosa and of Lannea microcarpa. The different extracts had low activity against Staphylococcus aureus and no effect on Salmonella typhi. From this study, we can say that Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, and Vittelaria paradoxa extracts have antibacterial activities on pathogenic strains such as Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The Salmonella typhi strain has shown itself to be resistant to these extracts.

Sagna T1 Zoungrana A2 Compaore R1 Ouedraogo H3 Soubeiga S1 Djigma F2 Traore L2 Zoure A1 Zida S3 Zohoncon T2 Kambire D3 Ouedraogo O3 Simpore J2 1Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Laboratoire de Biologie moléculaire et de génétique (LABIOGENE), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 2Laboratoire de Biologie moléculaire et de génétique (LABIOGENE), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 3Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Introduction: Meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis constitutes a burden for the countries in the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan in general and particularly for Burkina Faso.In 2019 the Diapaga health district experienced a meningitis epidemic due to N. meningitidis serogroup C. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a descriptive aim in the health district of Diapaga where all cases of meningitis were included in this work.Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), culture as well as real-time PCR were used for the biological analysis of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) samples.Results: Of 155 CSF samples analysed, 42% (65/155) were tested positve.Of them, N. meningitidis C accounted for 83% of all positive cases.Likewise, all thirteen (13) NmC strains were susceptible to oxacillin, ceftriaxone, penicillin and chloramphenicol.All strains of NmC belonged to the sequence type (ST) 10 217 and to the clonal complex (CC) 10 217.These CCs belonged to the same variant PorA type: P1.21-15.16;FetA type: F1-7; PorB type: 3-463.Conclusion: Burkina Faso had known an epidemic of meningitis caused by NmC in 2019 in the health district of Diapaga.This outbreak was contained in time due to the performance of the epidemiological surveillance system which made it possible to investigate on time and introduce the vaccine against the pathogen NmC.