Women's and health providers' perceptions of companionship during labor and childbirth: a formative study for the implementation of WHO companionship model in Burkina Faso.

INTRODUCTION: A key component of achieving respectful maternal and newborn care is labor companionship. Despite important health benefits for the woman and baby, there are critical gaps in implementing labor companionship for all women globally. The paper aims to present the perceptions and experiences of pregnant women, postpartum women, and health care providers regarding companionship during labor and childbirth, and to identify barriers and facilitating factors to the implementation of labor companionship in Burkina Faso. METHODS: This is a formative study to inform the "Appropriate use of cesarean section through QUALIty DECision-making by women and providers" (QUALI-DEC) study, to design, adapt and implement a strategy to optimize the use of the cesarean section, including labor companionship. We use in-depth interviews (women, potential companions, and health workers) and health facility readiness assessments in eight hospitals across Burkina Faso. We use a thematic analysis approach for interviews, and narrative summaries to describe facility readiness assessment. RESULTS: In all, 77 qualitative interviews and eight readiness assessments are included in this analysis. The findings showed that all participants acknowledged an existing traditional companionship model, which allowed companions to support women only in the hospital waiting room and post-natal room. Despite recognizing clear benefits, participants were not familiar with companionship during labor and childbirth in the hospital as recommended by WHO. Key barriers to implementing companionship throughout labor and birth include limited space in labor and delivery wards, no private rooms for women, hospital rules preventing companionship, and social norms preventing the choice of a companion by the woman. CONCLUSION: Labor companionship was considered highly acceptable in Burkina Faso, but more work is needed to adapt to the hospital environment. Revisions to hospital policies to allow companions during labor and childbirth are needed as well as changes to provide private space for women. Training potential companions about their roles and encouraging women's rights to choose their companions may help to facilitate effective implementation.

A labor companion is a person who supports a woman throughout labor and birth, typically a woman's spouse/partner, family member, or friend. We were interested to explore if a labor companion throughout labor and birth was acceptable to women and health workers, and feasible to start doing for women in Burkina Faso. To achieve this objective, we interviewed 77 women, companions, and health workers about their beliefs and opinions about labor companions, and what might help or be a challenge to having companions. We also visited eight hospitals to understand what the labor ward looks like, and any policies about companions. We found that hospitals were allowing a 'traditional model' of companionship, allowing companions to accompany women only in the waiting and postnatal rooms (not during labor or birth). Both women and health workers believed that companionship during labor and birth would be helpful and desired, which might help to make it a reality for all women. We also identified some challenges, due to crowded labor rooms with limited privacy, and hospital rules that did not allow companionship. We found that sometimes a woman's family would choose the companion, instead of the woman herself, which may mean the woman does not want this person present. We plan to use these findings to help us to develop a program that allows any woman to have a companion present during labor and birth, in a way that ensures that she chooses the companion, and the companion can support her well.

Pharmacokinetics of plasma lopinavir and ritonavir in tuberculosis-HIV co-infected African adult patients also receiving rifabutin 150 or 300 mg three times per week.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the pharmacokinetic of plasma lopinavir (LPV) and ritonavir (RTV) when co-administered with three times weekly (TPW) rifabutin (RBT) at a dose of either 150 or 300 mg in African tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infected adult patients. METHODS: This is a pharmacokinetic study conducted in Ouagadougou among patients treated with a standard dosage of LPV/RTV 400/100 mg twice daily and RBT 150 mg TPW (arm A = 9 patients) or rifabutin 300 mg TPW (arm B = 7 patients) based regimens. Patients were recruited from the Bogodogo and Kossodo district hospitals in Ouagadougou from May 2013 to December 2015. Study inclusion criteria were that the patients were between 18 and 60 years of age, HIV-1 infected with pulmonary tuberculosis confirmed or suspected. Subsequent blood samples for pharmacokinetic monitoring were collected at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 h after combined drug ingestion for plasma drug monitoring using HPLC/MS assays. RESULTS: The medians LPV Cmax and Tmax were respectively, 20 µg/mL and 4 h for the RBT 150 mg group (arm A) and 7.7 µg/mL and 3 h for the RBT 300 mg group (arm B). The AUC0-12 of LPV was 111.8 µg h/mL in patients belonging to arm A versus 69.9 µg/mL for those in arm B (p = 0.313). The C0 of LPV was lower than 4 µg/mL in three patients receiving RBT 300 mg. Of note, the RTV plasma concentrations were nearly halved among patients on RBT 300 mg compared to those on lower RBT doses. The AUC0-12 of RTV in arm A was 12.7 µg h/mL versus 6.6 µg h/ml in arm B (p = 0.313). CONCLUSION: In our study, the pharmacokinetic of LPV and RTV was found to be highly variable when coadministrated with RBT 150 mg or 300 mg three times per week. There is a need for specific large study to verify clinical and virological effects of this variation, especially when coadministrated with RBT of 300 mg TPW, and to prevent viral resistance in response to under-dosing of LPV. Trial registration PACTR201310000629390. Registered 28 October 2013, http://www.pactr.org/.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among men who have sex with men: results of the first integrated biological and behavioral survey in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

BACKGROUND: Many men who have sex with men (MSM) are at significant risk for HIV infection. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of HIV infection among MSM in Burkina Faso. METHODS: A cross-sectional biological and behavioral survey was conducted from January to August 2013 among MSM in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. MSM 18 years old and above were recruited using respondent driven sampling (RDS). A survey was administered to study participants followed by HIV testing. Population prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for the RDS design were produced using the RDS Analysis Tool version 6.0.1 (RDS, Inc., Ithaca, NY). RESULTS: A total of 662 MSM were enrolled in Ouagadougou (n = 333) and Bobo-Dioulasso (n = 329). The majority were unmarried, with an average age of 22.1 ± 4.4 years old in Ouagadougou and 23.1 ± 4.7 years old in Bobo-Dioulasso. RDS-adjusted HIV prevalence was 1.7% (95% CI: 0.9-3.1) in Ouagadougou and 2.7% (95% CI: 1.6-4.6) in Bobo-Dioulasso. HIV prevalence among MSM under 25 years old was 1.3% (95% CI: 0.6-2.8) and 0.9% (95% CI: 0.4-2.5) respectively in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, compared to 5.4% (95% CI: 2.2-12.5) and 6.6% (95% CI: 3.4-12.3) among those 25 years old or older in these cities (p = 0.010 and p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this first biological and behavioral survey among MSM in Burkina Faso suggest a need for programs to raise awareness among MSM and promote safer sex, particularly for young MSM to prevent HIV transmission. These programs would need support from donors for innovative actions such as promoting and providing pre-exposure prophylaxis, condoms and water-based lubricants, HIV counseling, testing, early treatment initiation and effective involvement of the MSM communities.

Evaluation of the diagnostic performance and operational characteristics of four rapid immunochromatographic syphilis tests in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Little information is available on the rapid diagnostic testing for syphilis in Burkina Faso. The objectives of the study were (i) to assess the sensitivity and specificity of four on site rapid tests in comparison with Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) as a gold standard and (ii) to evaluate the operational characteristics of those tests among health workers in a maternity unit. METHODS: Four rapid syphilis tests commercially available in Burkina Faso were evaluated using archived serum samples and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) as the gold standard. Blood samples were collected between November 2011 and June 2012 from blood donors at the Regional Blood Transfusion Center of Ouagadougou. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests were calculated. Evaluation of operational characteristics such as clarity of pamphlet, complexity of technique, duration, was conducted in a first-level healthcare center with health workers in maternity unit. RESULTS: Alere DetermineTM Syphilis was the most sensitive of the four rapid syphilis tests evaluated. It was followed by SD Bioline Syphilis 3.0, Cypress Diagnostics Syphilis Quick test and Accu-Tell ® Rapid Anti-TP, which was the least sensitive. The four tests demonstrated a good diagnostic specificity for syphilis (95-98%), and healthcare workers found them easy to use. CONCLUSIONS: The study allowed confirming the good performance of three of four rapid syphilis tests in Burkina Faso. More research will be conducted to assess the feasibility of introducing selected rapid tests for syphilis in antenatal care services.

Evolution of meningococcal carriage in serogroups X and Y before introduction of MenAfriVac in the health district of Kaya, Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the carriage of Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) serogroups X and Y in the health district of Kaya before the introduction of a serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine in Burkina Faso. METHODS: A repeated cross-sectional meningococcal carriage study was conducted in 2009 in eight randomly selected villages in the health district of Kaya, Burkina Faso. In each of 4 sampling rounds at least 1,500 people were enrolled within a 1-month period. RESULTS: From a total of 6,686 throat swabs we identified 419 Nm isolates (6.27%). The dominating serogroups were Y (3.19%) and X (1.05%). Overall carriage was higher in the dry season compared with the rainy season (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.06-2.16). Carriage prevalence of serogroups Y and X varied by round and was highest at the end of the dry season (4.92% and 1.22%, respectively). The only risk factor associated with NmX carriage was vaccination status in contrast to serogroup Y, which was associated with age groups 5-9 years and 10-14 years. CONCLUSION: The presence of Nm serogroups X and Y, which could replace or be added to the serogroup A, is a warning sign. There is a need to strengthen surveillance and laboratory diagnosis of the various meningococcal serogroups circulating in Africa.

Treating moderate acute malnutrition in first-line health services: an effectiveness cluster-randomized trial in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Management of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) is, currently, focused on food supplementation approaches. However, the sustainability of these strategies remains weak in low- and middle-income countries. In food-secure settings, an educational/behavioral intervention could be an alternative for improving MAM management. OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effectiveness of weekly context-appropriate child-centered counseling (CCC), with an improved corn-soy blend [corn-soy blend with added micronutrients (CSB++)] or a locally produced ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF), in treating MAM through first-line rural health services. DESIGN: We used a cluster randomized controlled trial design with 3 arms, involving 18 rural health centers (6 by arm) and children aged 6-24 mo with uncomplicated MAM. In the first arm (CCC), trained health workers provided weekly personalized counseling to caretakers. In the 2 other arms, children received weekly either 455 g CSB++ or 350 g locally produced soy-based RUSF. Both food supplements provided ∼250 kcal/d. RESULTS: The recovery rate after 3 mo of treatment was significantly lower with CCC (57.8%) than with CSB++ (74.5%) and RUSF (74.2%) (P < 0001). Mothers' attendance at health facilities was also substantially lower in the CCC arm (P < 0001); this arm had a high defaulter rate (P < 0.003). When the analysis was adjusted for attendance, we did not find a significant difference between the 3 arms, with incidence rate ratios of 1.14 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.31) and 1.13 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.30) for the CSB++ and RUSF arms, respectively, compared with the CCC arm. CONCLUSION: Whereas supplement-based treatment of MAM was found to be more effective than the provision of CCC, we hypothesize that appropriate and specific nutrition counseling centered on children's needs, through primary health facilities, might be an alternative strategy for MAM treatment in rural food-secure areas, provided that attendance at counseling sessions by the caregiver is ensured. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01115647.