Of the 276 patients enrolled, 215 (77.9%) were HIV positive. In HIV-positive patients cryptococcal meningitis (CM) was the most common cause of meningitis (39.1%) followed by pyogenic meningitis (PM) (30.7%), mononuclear meningitis (MM) (28.8%), and tuberculous meningitis (TM) (1.4%). In HIV-negative patients, PM was the most common cause (60.7%) followed by MM (37.7%) and CM (1.6%, one case). In-hospital mortality was higher in HIV-positive patients (73/128 = 57%) compared to those HIV negative (3/18 = 16.7%) (p = 0.001). Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 26) was the most common bacterial diagnosis, mainly in HIV-positive patients (n = 22, 10.2%). Meningococcal meningitis (14 Neisseria meningitidis of group A and one W135) was diagnosed in nine (4.2%) HIV-positive and six (9.8%) HIV-negative patients. Gram-negative rods were isolated from five HIV-positive and two HIV-negative patients, respectively. The bacteria and fungi involved in meningitis did not display high levels of in vitro resistance. Conventional microbiology techniques failed to detect the causative agent in 55 (53.4%) PM cases. Broad-range bacterial PCR detected DNA from S. pneumoniae in three samples, N. meningitidis in two, Escherichia coli in one, Listeria monocytogenes in two and Staphylococcus aureus in one sample. In the CSF of five (three HIV negative and two HIV positive), PCR products were not identified with the oligonucleotide probes specific for the usual species of bacteria found in CSF, or genera commonly considered potential contaminants of clinical samples. Among the MM cases, 77 (90.5%) probable viral meningitis (54 HIV positive and 23 HIV negative) and eight TM (HIV positive) were suspected.

In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults from the Central AfricanRepublic, the occurrence of chronic diarrhea due to HEp-2 adherent Escherichia coli (EAEC) harboring virulence markers (eaeA, BFP, EAF, astA determinant of EAST/1, positive FAS test, enteropathogenic E. coli O serogroup) was shown to be associated with AIDS. We also show that EAEC that produce verotoxin (Stx2) but do not harbor the genetic markers for classical enterohemorrhagic E. coli are involved in hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome in patients with HIV.The Central African Republic is strongly affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic (24). Nearly 72% of the adults hospitalized with AIDS present initially with chronic diarrhea (CD) (14). Between 1996 and 1999 we used phenotypic (14) and genotypic assays to study 88 HIV-infected adults hospitalized in Bangui and their matched controls to determine the clinical significance of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (7,8,9,10,12,16,22,25,27,29,31,32,34,35). The methods were as previously described (14). To be included in the study, the patients had to be HIV positive and aged 18 or over, have CD (3 or more loose watery stools per day for at least 14 days [3]), have E. coli in a stool sample, and give informed consent. Each patient was matched with a control recruited from among the neighbors and family members of the patient. The matching criteria dictated that the control be aged within 5 years of the patient's age and of the same sex. The recruitment criteria for the matched controls were as follows: testing positive for HIV antibodies, having had no diarrhea on the day of recruitment or during the previous month, and having E. coli in their stools on the day of recruitment. All controls gave informed consent to participate.HEp-2 adherent E. coli (EAEC) (5, 28) with localized adherent (LA), aggregative adherent (AA), or diffuse adherent (DA) patterns were more common in the patients (P Ͻ 10 Ϫ5 ) than in the controls (Table 1). Some EAEC exhibited a strong LA pattern (16 patients versus no control) in which Ͼ20% of the randomly selected cells had attached bacteria (11,19).These LA strains with a strong LA pattern were associated with CD, especially when the assays used to identify enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) virulence factors yielded positive results (eaeA, EPEC adherence factor [EAF] plasmid, bundleforming pili [BFP] PCR, and fluorescent actin staining [FAS] test) (P Ͻ 10 Ϫ5 ), and all belonged to known EPEC O serogroups (P ϭ 0.0001). The isolation of enteroaggregative E. coli (EAggEC) was strongly correlated with the presentation of CD (P Ͻ 10 Ϫ5 ). The difference in the isolation rates of EAEC strains exhibiting DA between patients and controls was only significant when the presence of the astA gene encoding EAST/1 was considered (P ϭ 0.016); astA was located on 7-to 40-kb plasmids.Interestingly, all of the enteric bacteria isolated from 42 patients (86% of the 49 patients with severe immunodepression) harboring EAEC with virulence factors were E. co...

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BackgroundHepatitis B is a major health concern in Africa. The vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) was introduced into the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) of Cameroon and Senegal in 2005, and of CAR (Central African Republic) in 2008. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess HBV immunization coverage following the vaccine’s introduction into the EPI and factors associated with having been vaccinated.MethodsAll hospitalized children, regardless of the reasons for their hospitalization, between 3 months and 6 years of age, for whom a blood test was scheduled during their stay and whose condition allowed for an additional 2 mL blood sample to be taken, and who provided the parent’s written consent were included. All children anti-HBs- and anti-HBc + were tested for HBsAg.Vaccination coverage was assessed in three different ways: immunization card, maternal recall and serologic anti-HBs profile.Results1783 children were enrolled between April 2009 and May 2010. An immunization card was only available for 24 % of the children. The median age was 21 months.Overall HBV immunization coverage based on immunization cards was 99 %, 49 % and 100 % in Cameroon, CAR and Senegal, respectively (p < 0,001). The immunization rate based on maternal recall was 91 %, 17 % and 88 % in Cameroon, CAR and Senegal, respectively (p < 0,001). According to serology (anti-HBs titer ≥ 10 mUI/mL and anti-HBc-), the coverage rate was 68 %, 13 % and 46 % in Cameroon, CAR and Senegal, respectively (p < 0,001). In Senegal and Cameroon, factors associated with having been vaccinated were: mother’s higher education (OR = 2.2; 95 % CI [1.5–3.2]), no malnutrition (OR = 1.6; 95 % CI [1.1–2.2]), access to flushing toilets (OR = 1.6; 95 % CI [1.1–2.3]), and < 24 months old (OR = 2.1; 95 % CI [1.3–3.4] between 12 and 23 months and OR = 2.7; 95 % CI [1.6–4.4] < 12 months). The prevalence of HBV-infected children (HBsAg+) were 0.7 %, 5.1 %, and 0.2 % in Cameroon, CAR and Senegal, respectively (p < 0.001).ConclusionsAssessing immunization coverage based on immunization cards, maternal recall or administrative data could be usefully reinforced by epidemiological data combined with immunological profiles. Serology-based studies should be implemented regularly in African countries, as recommended by the WHO. Malnutrition, lack of maternal education and poverty are factors associated with vaccine non-compliance. The countries’ vaccination programs should actively address these problems.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-015-1000-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still a major killing malignancy in sub-Saharan Africa. Lifelong intoxication with aflatoxin B1 is considered as one of the primary causes of this situation. The role of aflatoxin in HCC from a given population is commonly estimated through the prevalence of R249S mutation of TP53, a hallmark for previous exposure to the mycotoxin. However, the role of AFB1 is barely known in large part of Africa. We conducted a survey on circulating cell-free DNA from 149 patients with HCC and 213 control subjects with and without liver diseases from Cameroon and Central African Republic using droplet digital PCR technique. We observed a mutation prevalence of 24.8% (n = 37/149) in patients with tumor and 5.6% (n = 12/213) in controls (P = 2.2E-07). Patients with mutations usually displayed significantly increased circulating alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) values, high hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA loads as well as worsened values of blood cells count. Interestingly, the fraction of droplets positive for R249S was significantly larger in patients with liver cancer (15.3 ± 3.7%) than in controls (0.5 ± 0.3%, P = 7.1E-04). Our survey indicates that AFB1 is instrumental for HCC development in Middle Africa and that droplet digital PCR might be used in the region both to diagnose HCC and to conduct public health surveys on populations at risk of chronic aflatoxin intoxication.