Utilization of novel molecular multiplex methods for the detection and, epidemiological surveillance of dengue virus serotypes and chikungunya virus in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

BACKGROUND: Dengue virus (DENV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are major arboviruses that are transmitted to humans by Aedes aegypti (A. aegypti) and Aedes Albopictus (A. Albopictus) mosquitoes. In absence of specific antivirals and vaccine against these two viruses, prompt diagnosis of acute infections and robust surveillance for outbreak identification remain crucial. Therefore, rapid, robust, high-throughput, accessible, and low-cost assays are essential for endemic countries. This study evaluated our recently developed multiplex RT-PCR and RT-qPCR assays to screen for DENV1-4 and CHIKV circulation in Burkina Faso. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study, conducted between June to August 2023, enrolled patients with suspected arbovirus infection presenting at healthcare facilities in three Burkina Faso cities (Bobo-Dioulasso, Houndé, and Ouagadougou). Serum samples were collected and screened for DENV serotypes and CHIKV using our newly multiplex RT-PCR and RT-q PCR techniques recently developed. A total of 408 patients (age median = 33, range from 3 to 84 years) participated in this study. Of these, 13.7% (56/408) had DENV infection; DENV-1 was 32.1% (18/56) and DENV-3 was 67.9% (38/56). DENV-2, DENV-4 and CHIKV were not detected. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of our molecular methods for DENV detection and serotyping in Burkina Faso. The affordability of our methods makes them valuable for implementing widespread routine clinical diagnostics or arbovirus surveillance in resource-limited settings.

The cocrystal µ-oxalato-κO,O:O,O-bis-(aqua-(nitrato-κO){[1-(2-pyridyl-κN)eth-ylidene]hydrazine-κN}copper(II)) µ-oxalato-κO,O:O,O-bis-((methanol-κO)(nitrato-κO){[1-(2-pyridyl-κN)eth-ylidene]hydrazine-κN}copper(II)) (1/1).

The title cocrystal, [Cu(2)(C(2)O(4))(NO(3))(2)(C(7)H(9)N(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)][Cu(2)(C(2)O(4))(NO(3))(2)(C(7)H(9)N(3))(2)(CH(4)O)(2)], is a 1:1 cocrystal of two centrosymmetric Cu(II) complexes with oxalate dianions and Schiff base ligands. In each mol-ecule, the Cu(II) centre is in a distorted octa-hedral cis-CuN(2)O(4) environment, the donor atoms of the N,N'-bidentate Schiff base ligand and the bridging O,O'-bidentate oxalate group lying in the equatorial plane. In one mol-ecule, a monodentate nitrate anion and a water mol-ecule occupy the axial sites, and in the other, a monodentate nitrate anion and a methanol mol-ecule occupy these sites. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular N-H⋯O, O-H⋯O and N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into a network. Weak intra-molecular N-H⋯O inter-actions are also observed.