BackgroundMalaria and helminth co infection are common in tropical and subtropical areas where they affect the life of millions of people. While both helminth and malaria parasites have immunomodulatory activities, little is known about the consequence of co-infections on malaria antigen specific immune responses.Method/DesignThis study will be conducted in two rural areas of the Moyen Ogooué province in Gabon, endemic for both Plasmodium falciparum and Schistosoma haematobium infections. Participants, 5 to 50 years old, will be enrolled and grouped according to their infection status. S. haematobium and malaria parasites will be detected, demographic and clinical data will be recorded and blood will be collected for hematological as well as for immunological assays. The level of antibody specific to Plasmodium falciparum blood stage and gametocyte antigens will be measured using ELISA. PBMC will be isolated for phenotyping of different T cell subsets ex vivo by flow cytometry and for culture and cytokine response assessment.DiscussionWe will provide a comprehensive picture of the interaction between schistosomes and malaria parasites which co-localize in peripheral blood. We will test the hypothesis that schistosome infection has an impact on specific humoral as well as on cellular immune responses to malaria antigens.

Background and Purpose: Diarrhoeagenic E. coli (DEC) is one of the germs responsible for childhood diarrhea in developing countries. This study aims at determining the prevalence of the five main pathotypes of DEC isolated from faeces of children under five years old with diarrhea or not, living in the city of Koula-Moutou. Methodology: Isolates of E. coli were phenotypically screened on chromID TM agar and molecularly by multiplex PCR to detect the presence of enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enterohemorragic E. coli (EHEC) and enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC). The evaluation of their sensitivity to 12 β-lactam antibiotic molecules was carried out by Kirby Bauer method. This method has also made it possible to characterize phenotypically the different β-lactamases produced. Results and Conclusion: Overall, at least one DEC pathovar was detected in the 63 E. coli strains with phenotypic and molecular frequencies of 63.5% and 68.5% respectively. Thus, ETEC (28.3%) and EHEC (28.3%) were the most frequent DEC in diarrheal isolates. ETEC/EHEC hybrid was recorded in both groups with rates of 7.5% in diarrheal cases and 10.0% for controls. The results showed produced carbapenemase type β-lactamases

Background: The objective of this study was to analyse the clinical characteristics of HIV+ and HIV- tuberculosis patients followed and  treated at the Oyem Regional Hospital Centre (ORHC). Materials and Methods: During this study conducted between January 2019 and December 2021, data collection was based on the exploitation of medical records and registers of results from the medical analysis laboratory of the regional hospital of Oyem, in which there were personal data (gender and age) of the patients, the status of HIV infection, clinical characteristics (pulmonary or extra pulmonary TB), and finally, the therapeutic outcomes of the patients after anti-tuberculosis and antiretroviral treatment. Binomial test following the Normal distribution was used to find an association between the percentages of extrapulmonary TB and TB+/HIV+ co-infection. Results: In this study, 128 confirmed TB cases were selected. While 54 (42.19%) were co-infected with TB+/HIV+, 74 patients (57.81%) were monoinfected with TB+/HIV+.  Among all these patients, 93 (72.66%) were reported to have extra pulmonary TB and 35 (27.34%) had pulmonary TB. A normal binomial test showed that TB+/HIV+ co-infection was significantly associated with extrapulmonary TB (p=0.04). Patients were put on anti-tuberculosis treatment according to the manufacturers' indications. Despite a total of 15 deaths (8.93%) in both mono- and co-infected patients, there was a favourable outcome, with 35 patients (27.34%) declared cured. With 8 deaths, mortality was higher in the co-infected than in the non-HIV infected TB patients who recorded 7 deaths. Conclusion: By indicating a relatively high prevalence of HIV infection in TB patients, this study showed that TB+/HIV+ co-infection was associated with extra pulmonary TB, the severe form of the disease, and increased mortality in patients, hence the need to strengthen joint activities to control this co-infection.

Introduction: With a high burden among pregnant women and children under five years of age, malaria infection remains a real health problem, for these vulnerable segments of the population. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of malaria infection in children aged 0-5 years attending the Moanda medical centre in south-eastern Gabon. Methods: A retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional survey was conducted among children aged 0-5 years who came to the Moanda medical centre in January to December 2021, using the results of microscopic examinations (thick drops) recorded in the laboratory registers of the centre. Results: Out of 770 children aged 0 to 5 years registered for this study, 302 were positive for malaria infection, a total prevalence of 39.22%. With a mean age of 24.21 months, boys (415 cases, 53.90%) were more prevalent than girls (355 cases, 46.10%). While the 0-12 months age group was in the majority with 113 cases of malaria infection, i.e. 37.42%, the study showed no significant correlation between gender, age groups and malaria infection. The distribution of malaria infection by type of quater showed that it was more prevalent in the under-integrated (disadvantaged) quaters with n=182, i.e. 60.26% cases, than in the integrated quaters. The seasonal evolution of malaria infection according to age groups revealed two peaks, which represented periods of higher prevalence. The periods between the months of February and March, which are included in the short rainy season, and the month of June, which had the highest peak, corresponding to the long dry season. Conclusion: The prevalence of malaria infection in the study area showed seasonal variation during the study period. The results of this survey may be useful for a future update of the epidemiological profile of malaria infection in children aged 0-5 years. This may be essential to guide resource allocation, evaluation and prioritisation of malaria interventions at Moanda Medical Centre.