Screening for Neglected Tropical Diseases and other infections in African refugees and asylum seekers in Rome and Lazio region, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Few reliable data are available on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and other infections among African refugees and asylum seekers in Italy. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of NTDs and other infections in a large cohort of African refugees and asylum seekers living in reception centers in Lazio, Italy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is an observational, prospective prevalence study on infectious diseases in a large population of African refugees and asylum seekers (936 overall) consecutively enrolled for screening purpose at the Infectious and Tropical diseases outpatient clinic of the National Institute of Migrant and Poverty (INMP), Rome from August 2019 to December 2020. RESULTS: We found a prevalence of 8.8 % and 31 % for Strongyloides and schistosoma infection, respectively, while the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was 0.7 %, HCV antibodies 2.5%, hepatitis B virus surface antigen 10.8 % and syphilis serological tests 2.9 %. CONCLUSION: Strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis are highly prevalent among African refugees and asylum seekers in Italy, in contrast to communicable diseases (with the exception of hepatitis B). Raising awareness of NTDs among health professionals and implementing guidelines seems to be of paramount importance to prevent these diseases and their sufferers from becoming even more "neglected".

Prognosis for term breech presentations in Africa (Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso).

to describe the mode of delivery and the fetal prognosis for breech presentations in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. this prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study covered the entire year 2013 and included patients from the city's three principal maternity units. The sample included 184 women who gave birth at term to fetuses in breech presentation and a control group of 368 women with infants in cephalic presentation. Data were collected with standardized case report forms. The analysis was conducted with Epi-Info 3.5.1 software. We used the Chi-square test to compare percentages and the Chi-square test for trend to study the variation in frequencies. Differences were considered significant when P ≤ 0.05. during the study period, the prevalence of breech presentation at term was 1.74%. In the breech group, 55.5% of the women had vaginal deliveries versus 92% in the cephalic group (P = 0.04). The comparative analysis of fetal and neonatal morbidity in the two groups found greater morbidity in the breech group, marked by complications including uterine rupture (P = 0.0045), cord prolapse (P = 0.02), dynamic dystocia (P = 0.001), fetal distress (P = 0.0001), postpartum hemorrhage (P = 0.003), and perinatal death (P = 0.006). vaginal delivery remains the most frequent mode of delivery for breech presentations in Bobo Dioulasso, and perinatal morbidity and mortality are relatively high. Improvement of hospital protocols and staff training for breech deliveries should help to improve this situation.

[Systematic controlled placenta birth: analysis of 200 cases recruited at the general hospital of Abobo (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire)]. / La délivrance dirigée systématique: analyse d'une série de 200 cas recrutés a l'hôpital général d'Abobo (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire).

Haemorrhage of placenta birth is one of the main reasons of maternal mortality in developing countries. The control of this third stage of delivery remains one of the means to stem the scourge. This survey shows that controlled placenta birth is a safe mean to reach this objective: 200 women who had normal vaginal deliveries at the Abobo North hospital were included in the survey. Among them, one hundred women had a controlled placenta birth whereas 100 had a normal one. The analysis of the results showed that: the haemorrhage rates during placenta birth slightly decrease in the group with controlled placenta birth and are clearly lower in the group of patients with risks factors of haemorrhage in 10% of the cases; the delay of placenta birth is twice shorter in the group having a controlled placenta birth than in the group with normal placenta birth; blood loss in the group with controlled placenta birth is three times less important than in the other group. This study speaks in favour of a systematic controlled placenta birth during the third stage of labour as it is already performed elsewhere.

Residual risk of HIV, HVB and HCV transmission by blood transfusion between 2002 and 2004 at the Abidjan National Blood Transfusion Center.

The assessment of the viral residual risk from blood products is an assessment indicator of the quality management system and of the availability process of these products. Assessments of HIV, HBV and HCV viruses transmission risks through blood transfusion are calculated after the setting of a quality approach at the Abidjan NBTC. The method used estimates the risk of a donation made during a period immunologically silent. The residual risks for HIV, HBV, and HCV viruses have been estimated by multiplying the incidence rate for 100,000 people per year by the respective durations of the serological windows. The data received from the Abidjan Center's information processing system (Progesa 4.4d of MAK SYSTEM) go from 2002 to 2004 period. The residual risks are 1/5780 donations for HIV and 1/406 donations for the HCV, then 1/383 donations for the HBV. The residual risk for the HIV is almost four times reduced compared to that of 1997. The results show not only the importance of the transmission risk of HIV, HBV and HCV viruses through blood products, but also the necessity to set a quality management system in endemic countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.