ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.4102/ajlm.v11i1.1570.].
ABSTRACT
Laboratory systems have been largely neglected on the margins of health systems in Africa. However, since the 2000s, many African countries have benefited from massive investments to strengthen laboratory capacities through projects fighting priority diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria). This review examined the laboratory capacities of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Online research using specific terms was carried out. Studies published between 2000 and 2021 on the role of the laboratory in disease and antimicrobial resistance surveillance in the 11 ECCAS countries were considered. The number of human and animal health laboratories meeting international standards was very low in the sub-region. There were only seven International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189-accredited human health laboratories, with five in Cameroon and two in Rwanda. There were five high biosafety level (BSL) laboratories (one BSL3 laboratory each in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, and one BSL4 laboratory in Gabon) and three ISO 17025-accredited laboratories in the ECCAS sub-region. Only six countries currently have whole-genome sequencing devices, which is insufficient for a sub-region as large and populous as ECCAS. Yet, a plethora of pathogens, particularly haemorrhagic viruses, are endemic in these countries. The need for laboratory capacity strengthening following a One Health approach is imperative. Since emerging and re-emerging zoonotic infectious diseases are projected to triple in frequency over the next 50 years and given the inextricable link between human and animal health, actors in the two health sectors must collaborate to preserve world health.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), hepcidin (HEPC), phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLa2G2A), and myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC1) for tuberculosis (TB). These four biomarkers are differentially regulated between quiescent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infected individuals (non-progressors to TB disease) and Mtb-infected TB disease progressors 6 months before the onset of symptoms. METHODS: We enrolled samples from patients experiencing moderate-to-severe pulmonary infections diseases including 23 TB cases confirmed by smear microscopy and culture, and 34 TB-negative cases. For each participant, the serum levels of the four biomarkers were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: The levels of CK-MB and HEPC were significantly reduced in patients with active TB disease. CK-MB median level was 2045 pg/ml (1455-4000 pg/ml) in active TB cases and 3245 pg/ml (1645-4000 pg/ml) in non-TB pulmonary diseases. Using the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, HEPC and CK-MB had the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 79% (95% CI 67-91%) and 81% (95% CI 69-93%), respectively. Both markers correlated with TB diagnosis as a single marker. PLa2G2A and MYBPC1 with AUCs of 48% (95% CI 36-65%) and 62% (95% CI 48-76%) did not performed well as single biomarkers. The three markers'model (CK-MB-HEPC-PLa2G2A) had the highest diagnostic accuracy at 82% (95% CI 56-82%) after cross-validation. CONCLUSION: CK-MB and HEPC levels were statistically different between confirmed TB cases and non-TB cases. This study yields promising results for the rapid diagnosis of TB disease using a single marker or three biomarkers model.
