Midwives’ knowledge of COVID 19 and pregnancy in four maternity units in Brazzaville in 2021

Purpose: To evaluate midwives' knowledge of Covid 19 and Pregnancy. Materials and methods: This was a knowledge analytical study. Midwives working in delivery units and outpatient clinics were included. The variables were focused on socio-demographic and professional aspects, general information on Covid-19, the clinical and biological manifestations, the prevention of corona virus transmission and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Results: Out of 82 respondents, 73 (89.1%) were secondary school graduates, working mainly in Talangai Hospital. The media was the source of information for 78 (95.1%); Covid 19 is a viral infection 78 (95.1%); the route of contamination was respiratory 79 (96.3%) and transplacental 16 (19.5%) of respondents. The clinical signs were: fever 76 (92.7%), cough 77 (93.9%) and dyspnea 77 (93.9%) of the respondents. Biological diagnosis was done by RDT (rapid diagnosis test) 73 (89, 1%), completed by PCR confirmation 43 (52.4%) of the respondents. Prevention methods: hand washing several times a day 72 (87,8%) and alternative by disinfectant gel 75 (91,5%); lifting the fold of the elbow when sneezing or coughing 76 (89%); used handkerchief thrown in the trash 70 (85,4%) of the respondents; out of 3 preventive measures in the labour room, 20 (23,4%) answered correctly, 48 (58,5%) gave only 1 to 2 correct answers and 14 (17%) did not identify any measure. The overall knowledge of midwives on Covid 19 was insufficient 25 (30.5%), average 52 (63.4%), good 5 (6.1%) of the respondents. For the factors that can influence the level of knowledge, there is no link between the level of knowledge and the socio-professional characteristics of the midwives (Chi2 test: P-value ˃ 5%). However, the fact of working at the CHUB could have a slight influence (sensitive P-value close to 95%). Conclusion: There is a need to diversify sources of information for an improvement of knowledge in order to place the midwife at the top of the medical news.

Current Situation of Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria in China

Although China is moving toward the eradication of malaria and no indigenous malaria has been reported in most Chinese provinces for several years, recent evaluations have revealed that imported cases remain a major challenge to eliminating malaria, with the number of transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) cases increasing over time. Here, we review several TTM case reports published after the implementation of the National Malaria Elimination Program in 2010. A total of 12 TTM cases were reported in China between 2013 and 2018. All recipients and donors were diagnosed using rapid diagnosis test and peripheral blood smears. Plasmodium species in donors with low-density parasites were identified using PCR. Nine (75.0%) were identified as Plasmodium falciparum, two (16.7%) were identified as Plasmodium vivax, and one (8.3%) was identified as Plasmodium ovale. All were imported from malaria-endemic areas. New action plans designed to meet the challenges of TTM are necessary to ensure the elimination of malaria in China. Paying more attention to the frequency of TTM could help to enhance blood safety in China.

On the Efficiency of Machine Learning Models in Malaria Prediction

Malaria is still a real public health concern in Sub-Saharan African countries such as Senegal where it represents approximately 35% of the consultation activities in the hospitals. This is mainly due to the lack of appropriate medical care support and often late and error-prone diagnosis of the disease. For instance, largely used tools like Rapid Diagnosis Test are not fully reliable. This study proposes an extensive study of the efficiency of the most popular machine learning models for the task of Malaria occurrence prediction. We have considered patients from Senegal and have evaluated the overall accuracy of each considered algorithm based on sign and symptom information. Our main result is that machine learning algorithms are promising, in particular Naive Bayesian presents a recall very close to that of a rapid diagnostic test while improving highly its precision by 9%.

Accuracy of SD Malaria Ag P.f/Pan® As A Rapid Diagnosis Test of Malaria in French Amazonia

BackgroundFrench Guiana (FG) is, with Mayotte island, one of the two French overseas territories where malaria is still endemic. Ten years ago, French health authorities implemented a strategy to eradicate malaria disease in the region. The current incidence rate is 0,74‰ inhabitants, and Plasmodium Vivax is widely predominating even though Plasmodium Falciparum is still present due to imported cases, mainly from the Africa continent. In FG, RDT (SD Malaria Ag P.f/Pan®) test is based on detection of pan-pLDH, PfHRP2, and PfHRP3 antigens. While, in South America, the share of deletion of PfHRP2 gene is significantly increasing. So, we wondered if RDTs remained reliable in this context.MethodsOur study is a retrospective analysis conducted over four years and analyzed 12880 rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) whose result was compared with Blood Film Tests (BFTs) sampled for malaria diagnosis.ResultsThe global assessment of the diagnosis accuracy of RDT in the diagnosis of malaria shows PPV (Positive Predictive Value) and NPV (Negative Predictive Value) more than 95%, except for PPV of RDT in the diagnosis of malaria to P falciparum (88%). Overall, the concordance rate between RDT and BFT (positive/positive; negative/negative) was 99.5%. The PPV of the RDT in the follow-up of patients diagnosed with P falciparum was the lowest during the 28 first days after diagnosis. The PPV of the RDT in the follow-up of patients diagnosed with P vivax was the lowest during the 21 first days after diagnosis. The global sensitivity of SD Malaria Ag P.f/Pan® test was, on average, 96% (88.2 – 1) for P falciparum and 93% (90.6 – 94.2) for P vivax. The global specificity was high, with a rate of 99.8% (99.5 – 1) for all species included.ConclusionSD Malaria Ag P.f/Pan® is still a reliable rapid test used for the first-line diagnosis in remote healthcare centers. The test reading should be nuanced by the recent medical history of patients and the date of arrival in FG. RDT result has always to be confirmed by BFT that is still the gold standard for the malaria diagnosis. FG is still a PfHRP2 gene deletion-free area.

Comparative study between SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag pf rapid diagnostic test and calibrated thick smear in the east region of Cameroon

In children of less than 59 months, Malaria is a public health problem, associated with an increased risk of mortality and morbidity. Thus, to improve the quality of the biological diagnosis of malaria, we made a comparative study for results of malaria test using the detection antigen HRP2 by SD bio line and calibrated thick smear. As participants, 204 patients admitted at the Bertoua regional hospital, biological diagnosis was based on the staining of the calibrated thick smear and the rapid diagnosis test SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag pf. The results of this study showed a good performance of the TDR SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag pf, 29(14.21 %) were TDR positive versus 32(15 .68%) for calibrated thick smear. the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of TDR compared to the calibrated thick smear were respectively (87 .5%, 99.41%, 97.71%, 96.55%) the limitations of RDT were shown with low parasitaemia. The cases of false positives were noted in patients who took drugs without prescription. At the end of our study, we suggested continuous use of RDTs in health centres to strengthen microscopy, which has a long analysis time and to strengthen the staff’s ability in management of malaria cases.

Validation of a point-of-care rapid diagnostic test for hepatitis C for use in resource-limited settings

Background Treatment of HCV with direct-acting antivirals has enabled the discussion of HCV eradication worldwide. Envisioning this aim requires implementation of mass screening in resource-limited areas, usually constrained by testing costs. Methods We validated a low-cost, rapid diagnosis test (RDT) for HCV in three different continents in 141 individuals. Results The HCV RDT showed 100% specificity and sensitivity across different samples regardless of genotype or viral load (in samples with such information, 90%). Conclusions The HCV test validated in this study can allow for HCV screening in areas of need when properly used.

Comparative Study of Malaria Prevalence among Travellers in Nigeria (West Africa) Using Slide Microscopy and a Rapid Diagnosis Test

Malaria is a major disease in Africa and leads to various public health problems. A study was carried out at the Aviation Medical Clinic Laboratory, Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, in 2014. The work aimed to determine the prevalence of malaria among patients attending the laboratory. Blood samples were therefore collected from 51 patients and subjected to both blood smear microscopy and a rapid immunochromatographic diagnostic test (SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag) for detection of, respectively, malaria parasites and antigens. At the end of the study, 22% of the patients were detected positive by the microscopic examination while 9.8% were tested positive when using SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag. The outcomes of the study show a high prevalence of malaria at the airport. This represents a serious risk factor leading to a high likelihood of spread and occurrence of malaria in other countries including Western countries whereby the disease is nonendemic. It also pointed out that the blood smear microscopy seems to be better than Rapid Diagnosis Test (RDT) for malaria diagnosis.