Rift Valley fever among febrile patients at New Halfa hospital, eastern Sudan

Abstract

BackgroundSince the first isolation of the Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) in 1930s, there have been several epizootics outbreaks in the tropic mainly in Africa including Sudan. Recognition of cases and diagnosis of RVF are critical for management and control of the disease.AimsTo investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors for seropostive to RVFV IgG among febrile patients.MethodsAll febrile patients presented to New Halfa hospital in eastern Sudan during September through November 2007 were investigated to identify the cause of their fever including malaria and RFV.ResultsOut of 290 feverish patients presented to the hospital, malaria was diagnosis in 94 individuals. Fevers of unknown origin were diagnosed in 149 patients. Seropostive to RVFV IgG was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 122 (81.8%) of the sera from these 149 patients with fever of unknown origin. While socio-demographic characteristics (age, Job, education and residency) were not associated with seropostive to RVFV IgG, male (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.0-7.6; P = 0.04) were at three times higher risk for seropostive to RVFV IgG.ConclusionThere was a high seropostive to RVFV IgG in this setting, more research is needed perhaps using other methods like PCR and IGM.

Epidemiology of dengue infections in Kassala, Eastern Sudan

“…The mortality rate was 6.1%. Recently, dengue infections were reported among children and pregnant women in the nearby setting in Port Sudan in Eastern Sudan [Adam et al, 2010; Hassanain et al, 2010]. Dengue infection is usually mild, non‐specific, or even asymptomatic one with very few cases manifest as severe disease [Gibbons and Vaughn, 2002; Wilder‐Smith and Schwartz, 2005; Deen et al, 2006].…”

“…The male:female ratio in the current study was 1.8:1 while it was 3.3:1 and 1.5:1 during the two recent dengue epidemics in Saudi Arabia [Ayyub et al, 2006; Khan et al, 2008]. Interestingly, a male preponderance was documented in another hemorrhagic fever (Rift Valley Fever) in the nearby area and the factor of male predominance in the Rift Valley Fever was attributed to the zoonotic nature of the disease [Hassanain et al, 2010]. The gender exposure difference between males and females beside healthcare‐seeking behavior might account for this gender difference observed in this setting.…”

“…As the part of the collaboration between the Sudanese Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the National Ministry of Health in the different epidemics in Sudan [Adam et al, 2010; Hassanain et al, 2010], all patients with dengue infection presented at Kassala Hospital during 3 months from August through November 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Although, the old World Health Organization [1997] classification of dengue has been replaced recently [World Health Organization, 2009], the former one has been adopted in this work to facilitate comparison with the results of the previous studies.…”

Rift Valley Fever, Sudan, 2007 and 2010

“…Serologic surveys have detected RVFV antibodies in domestic livestock ( 14 , 15 ) and in humans from different Sudanese states, including Nile, Khartoum, Kassala, El Gezira, Sennar, and White Nile ( 16 – 18 ). A recent seroepidemiologic survey reported a high prevalence of RVFV IgG among febrile patients admitted to New Halfa Hospital in Kassala State ( 19 ). New Halfa is an extensively irrigated agricultural area ≈500 km east of Khartoum.…”

The genetic basis for susceptibility to Rift Valley fever disease in MBT/Pas mice

“…35 However, lower female mortality due to infectious diseases is not 27 universal, and a reverse pattern of excess female mortality has been observed for Kenya. 38,39 Therefore enhanced male morbidity in these regions of Africa may be 2 explained by the occupation of herding, which implies slaughtering and milking, 3 predominantly performed by men.…”