Strategic HIV Case Findings among Infants at Different Entry Points of Health Facilities in Cameroon: Optimizing the Elimination of Mother-To-Child Transmission in Low- and- Middle-Income Countries.

BACKGROUND: HIV case finding is an essential component for ending AIDS, but there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of such a strategy in the pediatric population. We sought to determine HIV positivity rates among children according to entry points in Cameroon. METHODS: A facility-based survey was conducted from January 2015 to December 2019 among mother-child couples at various entry points of health facilities in six regions of Cameroon. A questionnaire was administered to parents/guardians. Children were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Positivity rates were compared between entry points. Associations were quantified using the unadjusted positivity ratio (PR) for univariate analyses and the adjusted positivity ratio (aPR) for multiple Poisson regression analyses with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). p-values < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Overall, 24,097 children were enrolled. Among them, 75.91% were tested through the HIV prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program, followed by outpatient (13.27%) and immunization (6.27%) services. In total, PMTCT, immunization, and outpatient services accounted for 95.39% of children. The overall positivity was 5.71%, with significant differences (p < 0.001) between entry points. Univariate analysis showed that inpatient service (PR = 1.45; 95% CI: [1.08, 1.94]; p = 0.014), infant welfare (PR = 0.43; 95% CI: [0.28, 0.66]; p < 0.001), immunization (PR = 0.56; 95% CI: [0.45, 0.70]; p < 0.001), and PMTCT (PR = 0.41; 95% CI: [0.37, 0.46]; p < 0.001) were associated with HIV transmission. After adjusting for other covariates, only PMTCT was associated with transmission (aPR = 0.66; 95% CI: [0.51, 0.86]; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: While PMTCT accounts for most tested children, high HIV positivity rates were found among children presenting at inpatient, nutrition, and outpatient services and HIV care units. Thus, systematic HIV testing should be proposed for all sick children presenting at the hospital who have escaped the PMTCT cascade.

Enhanced passive surveillance dengue infection among febrile children: Prevalence, co-infections and associated factors in Cameroon.

Dengue virus (DENV) causes a spectrum of diseases ranging from asymptomatic, mild febrile to a life-threatening illness: dengue hemorrhagic fever. The main clinical symptom of dengue is fever, similar to that of malaria. The prevalence of dengue virus infection, alone or in association with other endemic infectious diseases in children in Cameroon is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dengue, malaria and HIV in children presenting with fever and associated risk factors. Dengue overall prevalence was 20.2%, Malaria cases were 52.7% and HIV cases represented 12.6%. The prevalence of dengue-HIV co-infection was 6.0% and that of Malaria-dengue co-infection was 19.5%. Triple infection prevalence was 4.3%. Dengue virus infection is present in children and HIV-Dengue or Dengue- Malaria co-infections are common. Dengue peak prevalence was between August and October. Sex and age were not associated with dengue and dengue co-infections. However, malaria as well as HIV were significantly associated with dengue (P = 0.001 and 0.028 respectively). The diagnosis of dengue and Malaria should be carried out routinely for better management of fever.

HIV-1 Early Infant Diagnosis is an Effective Indicator of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Program Performance: Experience from Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Despite improvement in HIV prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), there are still over 1,500 African infants newly infected daily. PMTCT elimination requires antiretroviral therapy (ART) throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding periods, while early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV implies early treatment for those infected. Our study aimed at assessing the utility of EID program data in evaluating the implementation of PMTCT program in Cameroon, and in identifying the efficacy of existing PMTCT interventions and breastfeeding options on the events of HIV vertical transmission. METHODS: A study was conducted from 2010-2011 using PMTCT data from EID sites of six regions of Cameroon. PMTCT ARV regimens, breastfeeding options, and the child's HIV DNA-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed using Mann Whitney U and Fisher exact tests, with p<0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 2,505 mother-child pairs received ART, resulting is 4.3% (93) vertical transmission, against 31.3% (284/906) among mother-child pairs without exposure to any PMTCT intervention; p<0.00001. A statistically significant difference (p<0.00001) was also found between formula feeding (FF) (5.9%) versus exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (12.5%), as well as between EBF versus mixed feeding (MF) (30%). With FF, when both mother-child pairs received PMTCT, only 2.9% (47/1603) vertical transmission was recorded versus 19.9% (48/241) for mother-child pairs without intervention; p<0.00001. Transmission rates were similar across infant age range [2.7% (10/376) for age ≤6 weeks, versus 2.5% (43/1807) for age >6 weeks-6 months]. Interestingly, babies aged 6 weeks receiving FF showed a significantly lower transmission rate (3.2%, 9/277) as compared to their counterparts with EBF (7.7%, 12/156); p<0.00001. CONCLUSION: Using EID dataset, it appears that considerable reduction in HIV MTCT may be achievable through access to ARV (option B+) and adequate infant feeding option (especially FF) in Cameroon. EID programme is therefore an effective routine approach for PMTCT programme evaluation in resource-limited settings.