Effects of Age, Level of Education and HIV Status on Cognitive Performance in West African Older Adults: The West Africa IeDEA Cohort Collaboration.

An in-depth understanding of the impact of aging, cognitive reserve, and HIV status on cognitive function is needed in older West African adults. Ninety-nine HIV-negative and 334 HIV-positive adults aged ≥ 50 years were enrolled in three clinics (Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire) participating in the IeDEA West Africa collaboration. All subjects underwent the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) and the Isaacs Set Test (IST). Age (both linear and quadratic), education level, and HIV status effects on Z-scores were assessed using multivariate linear regression models. Interactions between HIV status and age or educational level were tested. In the present cohort of older West African adults, the role of age and educational level on episodic memory and verbal fluency was observed without revealing an interaction between HIV status and age effect. As age had quadratic effects, older HIV-positive adults should not be considered as a unique group irrespective of their age. Low-educated HIV-positive patients had the lowest verbal fluency performance compared to others. Further studies are needed to duplicate these results. In clinical settings, screening and adapted programs focusing on improving cognition in those patients are needed.

[Neonatal and child tetanus morbidity and mortality in the University hospitals of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (2001-2010)]. / Morbidité et mortalité du tétanos des nouveau-nés et des enfants dans les Centres hospitaliers universitaires d'Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (2001-2010).

The lack of data on neonatal tetanus and children in university hospitals (UH) in Abidjan for over a decade has motivated the realization of this study. The objective of this study is to evaluate the morbidity and mortality related to neonatal tetanus (NT) and child tetanus (CT) in Abidjan University Hospital from 2001 to 2010. It is a retrospective study, multicenter analysis with records of newborns and children suffering from tetanus in the three UH of Abidjan. The collection and analysis of data were made by the SPHINX 4.5 and EPI.INFO 6.0 software. In ten years, 242 cases of tetanus (53 NT cases and 189 CT cases) were collected with a predominance of cases after the fifth year of life (59.5%). The incidence rate of NT was less than 1 case per 1,000 live births. All mothers of the newborns were inhabiting the city of Abidjan. Their median age was 19 years [16-32] and 64% were teenagers. Gateways were dominated by umbilical wounds (77.3%) in the NTand skin wounds (59%) in CT. The cure rate was 30.2% in the NT and 60% in the CT. Lethality was 60% for NT and 22% for CT with a positive correlation with young age (neonates: p = 4.10-7, age <5 years: p = 0.01), lack of intraspinal injection of tetanus serum (p = 8.10-6), the absence of conventional antibiotic therapy (p = 0.023), the existence of metabolic complications (p = 2.10-5), the score of ≥ 4 Dakar (p = 0.005). Tetanus remains a real morbidly cause among children in Abidjan University Hospital with high lethality. However, the incidence of NT seems consistent with the incidence threshold desired by WHO.

Migraine et qualité de vie en milieu scolaire dans le district de Bamako au Mali

Introduction: La migraine est responsable de 3% d'invalidité. Sa prévalence et son impact dans la population scolaire mérite d'être connus. Méthodologie: Il s'agit d'une étude transversale et descriptive sur cinq mois, auprès des élèves de moins de 23 ans d'un lycée du district de Bamako au Mali. L'échantillonnage était exhaustif et la population a été stratifiée en classe scolaire. Les données en rapport avec le retentissement et le handicap de la migraine ont été recueillies à partir d'une fiche d'enquête intégrant les items validés à l'échelle internationale (GRIM, MIDAS, Headache Impact- Test). Résultats: La prévalence de la migraine était de 21,0%.Le sex-ratio était de 0,58. L'âge moyen était de 17ans. La douleur était pulsatile dans 88,3% des cas, exacerbée par les activités physiques dans 5,4%, de topographie unilatérale chez 73,2% des élèves. La phonophobie, la photophobie étaient les signes d'accompagnement les plus décrits. L'intensité de la douleur était entre 9 -10 chez 69,5%. Dans 91,2 des cas on notait un absentéisme scolaire allant de 1 à 14 jours. Conclusion: La migraine constitue un véritable problème de santé publique en milieu scolaire à Bamako par sa prévalence et son impact sur le rendement scolaire