Profile of Children with Undernutrition Admitted in Two Secondary-Level Hospitals in Maputo City, Mozambique.

Mozambique has one of the highest child undernutrition rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of children from 1 to 14 years old hospitalized for undernutrition and to explore associated risk factors. Clinical, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental data were collected. Anthropometric measurements and stool samples were collected from a child and their caretaker. The wealth index was determined using Principal Components Analysis. A total of 449 children and their caretakers were enrolled. The children had a median age of 1.0 year [IQR: 1.0-2.0], and 53.9% (242/449) were male. Most were admitted with severe undernutrition (35.7%, 159/449 kwashiorkor and 82.0%, 368/449 with -3SD Z-score indexes). The most common co-morbidities were HIV (30.0%, 120/400), diarrhea (20.0%; 80/400), and anemia (12.5%; 50/400). Among the caretakers, 9.5% (39/409) were underweight, 10.1% (40/397) were overweight, and 14.1% (56/397) were obese. Intestinal parasites were found in 24.8% (90/363) children and in 38.5% (77/200) caretakers. The majority of children (60.7%, 85/140) came from low- to middle-wealth households. Most were severely undernourished, suggesting that they seek medical care too late. The finding of overweight/obese caretakers in combination with undernourished children confirms that Mozambique is facing a double burden of malnutrition.

Safety of incidental exposure to the novel oral poliovirus vaccine type 2 in pregnancy: A longitudinal observational study in Mozambique, 2022-2023.

BACKGROUND: To minimize the risk of vaccine-derived poliovirus emergences, the novel oral poliovirus vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), was bioengineered to have increased genetic stability compared to Sabin OPV and recommended for outbreak response Emergency Use Listing by WHO. Although pregnant women are not a target population for this vaccine, a theoretical risk of incidental exposure exists via pharyngeal or faecal shedding from vaccinated children in the household or close community. METHODS: This was an observational study of pregnant women conducted in Nampula (exposed cohort) and Maputo (non-exposed cohort) in Mozambique from August 2022 to June 2023. Two nOPV2 campaigns were conducted in Nampula and none in Maputo. Women were followed-up during routine prenatal consultation, delivery, and 28-day neonate visits for obstetric anomalies and pregnancy outcomes. Sociodemographic, medical, and obstetric history was captured. RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-six pregnant women were enrolled from Nampula and 940 from Maputo City. Stillbirth prevalence (2·3% vs 1·6%, p = 0·438), low birth weight (8·9% vs 8·2%, p = 0·989), congenital anomalies (1 % vs 0·5%, p = 0·454), neonatal death (2·3% vs 1·6%, p = 0·08), and maternal death (0 % vs 0·2%, p = 0·978) did not differ amongst exposed and non-exposed cohorts. There was an increased rate of pre-term delivery in the exposed cohort (18·4% vs 11·0%, p = 0·011). CONCLUSION: We did not observe an increased frequency of adverse pregnancy outcomes due to passive nOPV2 exposure. A higher frequency of preterm delivery needs to be further investigated. The data reported herein support the continued use of nOPV2 for poliovirus outbreak response and full licensure of the vaccine.

Examining comorbidities in children with diarrhea across four provinces of Mozambique: A cross-sectional study (2015 to 2019).

Comorbidities are defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more diseases within the same individual. Comorbidities can delay a patient's recovery and increase the costs of treatment. Assessing comorbidities can provide local health care policy-makers with evidence of the most common multi-health impairments in children. This could aid in redirecting and integrating care and treatment services by increasing health facilities the awareness and readiness of health facilities. The present analysis aims to determine the frequency and associated factors of comorbidities in children with diarrhea in Mozambique. A cross-sectional hospital-based analysis was conducted between January 2015 and December 2019 in children up to 59 months of age who were admitted with diarrhea in six reference hospitals in Mozambique. These hospitals are distributed across the country's three regions, with at least one hospital in each province from each region. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and by reviewing the child clinical process. Descriptive statistics, and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used. Crude and adjusted logistics regression models were built. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Comorbidities were observed in 55.5% of patients (389/701; 95%CI: 51.8-59.1). Wasting was the most common comorbidity (30.2%; 212/701) and pneumonia was the least common (1.7%; 12/701). Children born with a low birth weight were 2.420 times more likely to have comorbidities, adjusted odds ratio: 2.420 (95% CI: 1.339-4374). The median (interquartile range) duration of hospitalization was significantly higher in children with comorbidities than without comorbidities, 5 days (3-7) and 4 days (3-6), respectively (p-value < 0.001). One in every two children with diarrhea in Mozambique has an additional health impairment, and this increases the length of their hospital stay.

Quality of routine data for monitoring nutrition and diarrhoea indicators of children under 5 in Mozambique: an ecological study over a 5-year period.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition and diarrhoea have a high burden in children under 5 in low/middle-income countries. Having data-driven quality health services for these two diseases is key in order to address the high burden of diseases; therefore, health systems must provide data to monitor, manage, plan and decide on policies at all levels of health services. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the quality of nutrition and diarrhoea routine data on children under 5 in Mozambique. DESIGN: A longitudinal ecological study was implemented. Secondary data were used to assess the quality of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), deworming and rotavirus vaccine indicators based on the data's completeness, presence of outliers and consistency, and seasonality analysis in the form of time series analysis was performed. SETTING: We used monthly district-level count data from 2017 to 2021, from all health facilities, from the Mozambican health information system (Sistema de Informação de Saúde para Monitoria e Avaliação, or District Health Information System version 2). RESULTS: The rotavirus vaccine indicators presented better completeness when compared with other indicators under analysis. Extreme outliers were observed for deworming and rotavirus vaccines, with a higher number of outliers in the Zambezia and Nampula Provinces. Better consistency over time was observed when analysing the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, for all of the indicators and across provinces. Indicators of MAM and MAM-recovered showed more consistency issues over time in both periods of 2017-2019 and 2018-2021. In terms of seasonality analysis, for the MAM and MAM-recovered indicators, lower variation was observed, and heterogeneous patterns were seen across provinces for the rotavirus vaccine, which had the most pronounced negative seasonality components in Maputo City. CONCLUSION: Major deficits regarding the analysed quality indicators were observed for Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Zambezia, Tete, Manica, and Maputo City and Province.

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Alternative Human Papillomavirus Vaccines for Preadolescent Girls in Mozambique: A Modelling Study.

Mozambique has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination was introduced in 2021. This study evaluated the health and economic impact of the current HPV vaccine (GARDASIL® hereafter referred to as GARDASIL-4) and two other vaccines (CECOLIN® and CERVARIX®) that could be used in the future. A static cohort model was used to estimate the costs and benefits of vaccinating girls in Mozambique over the period 2022-2031. The primary outcome measure was the incremental cost per disability-adjusted life-year averted from a government perspective. We conducted deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Without cross-protection, all three vaccines averted approximately 54% cervical cancer cases and deaths. With cross-protection, CERVARIX averted 70% of cases and deaths. Without Gavi support, the discounted vaccine program costs ranged from 60 million to 81 million USD. Vaccine program costs were approximately 37 million USD for all vaccines with Gavi support. Without cross-protection, CECOLIN was dominant, being cost-effective with or without Gavi support. With cross-protection and Gavi support, CERVARIX was dominant and cost-saving. With cross-protection and no Gavi support, CECOLIN had the most favorable cost-effectiveness ratio. Conclusions: At a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold set at 35% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, HPV vaccination is cost-effective in Mozambique. The optimal vaccine choice depends on cross-protection assumptions.

Trends and Determinants of Full Immunisation among Children Aged 12-23 Months: Analysis of Pooled Data from Mozambican Household Surveys between 1997 and 2015.

The 1974 Expanded Program on Immunisation has saved millions of children worldwide by promoting full immunisation coverage (FIC). However, forty years later, many sub-Saharan African countries remain well below its target of 90% FIC. This study analysed the level, trends and determinants of FIC in 4322 Mozambican children aged 12-23 months from pooled data from four national surveys between 1997 and 2015. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression models were performed to analyse the factors associated with full immunisation coverage. Overall, the coverage of fully immunised children increased from 47.9% in 1997 to 66.5% in 2015, corresponding to a 1.8% yearly increase. The needed FIC growth rate post-2015 was 4.3 times higher. Increased maternal education and a higher household wealth index were associated with higher odds of FIS. Furthermore, attending antenatal care (ANC) visits, institutional delivery and living in southern provinces were also associated with increased odds of FIS. Between 1997 and 2015, FIC among 12-23-month-old children made modest annual gains but remained well below international targets. Factors related to access to healthcare, educational level, socioeconomic status and geographical location were associated with improved FIC. Targeted interventions to expand these factors will improve immunisation coverage among Mozambican children.

Enterovirus detection in stool samples from Mozambican children with acute gastroenteritis.

Enteroviruses (EV) are predominantly enteric viruses, present in all parts of the world causing disease in humans with a broad spectrum of clinical presentations. The purpose of this study was to identify non-polio enteroviruses (NPEV) in stool samples collected from children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) symptoms of unknown etiology in four provinces (Maputo, Nampula, Sofala and Zambézia) of Mozambique. From June 2014 to March 2018, 327 stool samples were collected from children hospitalized with AGE in health care units. NPEVs were detected in 52 samples (52/327; 15.9%) and were more frequent in children under 5 years of age. The age group from 12 to 23 months was the most affected and showed more severity of disease. We also identified 26 different EV-types with the following detection pattern EV-B>EV-C>EV-A. The major EV-types were EV-A119 (9/52; 17.3%) and EV-C99 (8/52; 15.4%), accounting for 32.7% of the total. In addition to EV-A119, other uncommon EV-types were also identified, such as EV-B75, EV-B97 and EV-C113. The current study shows a high heterogeneity of EV types circulating in children with AGE in Mozambique as well as the identification of rarely described enteroviruses.

Cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in Mozambique.

INTRODUCTION: Rotavirus is one of the most common cause of severe gastroenteritis in children, with the largest mortality burden in low- and middle-income countries. To prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis, Mozambique introduced ROTARIX® vaccine in 2015, however, its cost-effectiveness has never been established in the country. In 2018, additional vaccines became available globally. This study estimates the cost-effectiveness of the recently introduced ROTARIX in Mozambique and compares the cost-effectiveness of ROTARIX®, ROTAVAC®, and ROTASIIL® to inform future use. METHODS: We used a decision-support model to calculate the potential cost-effectiveness of vaccination with ROTARIX compared to no vaccination over a five-year period (2016-2020) and to compare the cost-effectiveness of ROTARIX, ROTAVAC, and ROTASIIL to no vaccination and to each other over a ten-year period (2021-2030). The primary outcome was the incremental cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted from a government perspective. We assessed uncertainty through sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: From 2016 to 2020, we estimate the vaccine program with ROTARIX cost US$12.3 million, prevented 4,628 deaths, and averted US$3.1 million in healthcare costs. The cost per DALY averted was US$70. From 2021 to 2030, we estimate all three vaccines could prevent 9,000 deaths and avert US$7.8 million in healthcare costs. With Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi) support, ROTARIX would have the lowest vaccine program cost (US$31 million) and 98 % probability of being cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of 0.5x GDP per capita. Without Gavi support, ROTASIIL would have the lowest vaccine program cost (US$75.8 million) and 30 % probability of being cost-effective at the same threshold. CONCLUSION: ROTARIX vaccination had a substantial public health impact in Mozambique between 2016 and 2020. ROTARIX is currently estimated to be the most cost-effective product, but the choice of vaccine should be re-evaluated as more evidence emerges on the price, incremental delivery cost, wastage, and impact associated with each of the different rotavirus vaccines.

Association between Intestinal Parasite Infections and Proxies for Body Composition: A Scoping Review.

It has long been recognized that intestinal parasite infections and undernutrition are closely linked. However, little is known about the role of intestinal parasite infections (IPIs), or parasite clearance, in these processes. The aim of this scoping review was to summarize published evidence on the association between IPIs and body composition. PRISMA guidelines, PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were searched up until June 2021. Studies reporting on IPIs in relation to (proxies for) body composition were eligible. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools. Twenty-four studies were included, two Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) and 22 observational. Most observational studies showed IPIs to be associated with lower Body Mass Index (BMI) or being underweight as proxies for body composition. One RCT showed no effect of antiparasitic treatment on body composition, while the other one showed a significant post-treatment increase in body fat, as measured by BMI z-scores and skinfolds. This review lends support to distinct associations between IPIs and body composition. More longitudinal studies are needed using direct measures of body composition to investigate whether weight gained after antiparasitic treatment concerns an increase in body fat or healthy weight gain.

Environmental Monitoring for Enteroviruses in Maputo, Mozambique-2018.

Due to the possibility of wild poliovirus importation from endemic regions and the high circulation of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the African region, Mozambique implemented a surveillance program to monitor the circulation of enteroviruses in the environment. From January to November 2018, a period that immediately preceded the cVDPV outbreak in Africa, 63 wastewater samples were collected from different areas in Maputo city. A total of 25 samples (39.7%) were positive based on cell culture isolation. Non-polio enteroviruses were found in 24 samples (24/25; 96%), whereas 1 Sabin-related poliovirus was isolated. Neither wild nor vaccine-derived poliovirus was detected. High circulation of EVB species was detected. Environmental surveillance in the One Health approach, if effectively applied as support to acute flaccid paralysis, can be a powerful aid to the public health system to monitor poliovirus besides non-polio enteroviruses in polio-free areas.

Molecular characterization of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli isolates from children with diarrhea: A cross-sectional study in four provinces of Mozambique: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in Mozambique.

OBJECTIVES: Analyze the frequency of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) pathotypes and their antimicrobial resistance profiles among children aged <15 years with diarrhea in four Mozambican provinces. METHODS: A cross-sectional hospital-based surveillance program of diarrhea was implemented in Maputo, Sofala, Zambézia, and Nampula. A single stool sample was collected from each child from May 2014 to May 2017. Culture methods and biochemical characterization were performed to detect E. coli strains. DEC pathotypes were determined by conventional polymerase chain reaction targeting specific virulence genes. Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed by the Kirby-Bauer method. RESULTS: From 723 specimens analyzed by culture, 262 were positive for E. coli. A total of 208 samples were tested by polymerase chain reaction for DEC identification, of which 101 (48.6%) were positive for a DEC pathotype. The predominant pathotypes were enteroaggregative (66.3%, 67/101), enteropathogenic (15.8%, 16/101), enterotoxigenic (13.9%, 14/101), and enteroinvasive E. coli (4.0%, 4/101). No Shiga toxin-producing E. coli was identified. Regardless of the province, the most frequent pathotype was enteroaggregative E. coli. Isolated DEC presented high frequency of resistance to ampicillin (97.8%), tetracycline (68.3%), chloramphenicol (28.4%), nalidixic acid (19.5%), and gentamicin (14.4%). CONCLUSION: Children with diarrhea in Mozambique had DEC and higher resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline.

Characterizing Undernourished Children Under-Five Years Old with Diarrhoea in Mozambique: A Hospital Based Cross-Sectional Study, 2015-2019.

Diarrhoea is associated with undernutrition and this association is related to increased morbidity and mortality in children under-five. In this analysis we aimed to assess the frequency and associated factors of undernutrition in children under-five with diarrhoea. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2015 to December 2019 through a surveillance system in five sentinel hospitals in Mozambique. Sociodemographic and clinical information was collected, including anthropometry. A total of 963 children were analysed. The overall undernutrition frequency was 54.1% (95% CI: 50.9−57.2), with 32.5% (95% CI: 29.6−35.5) stunting, 26.6% (95% CI: 23.9−29.6) wasting and 24.7% (95% CI: 22.1−27.5) underweight. Children from Nampula province had 4.7 (p = 0.016) higher odds for stunting compared with children from Maputo. Children whose caregiver was illiterate had higher odds of being underweight 5.24 (p < 0.001), and the wet season was associated with higher odds 1.70 (p = 0.012) of being wasted. Children born under 2500 g of weight had 2.8 (p = 0.001), 2.7 (p < 0.001) and 2.6 (p = 0.010) higher odds for being underweighted, wasted and stunted, respectively. The HIV positive status of the children was associated with higher odds of being underweight 2.6 (p = 0.006), and stunted 3.4 (p = 0.004). The province, caregiver education level, wet season, child's birthweight and HIV status were factors associated with undernutrition in children with diarrhoea. These findings emphasise the need for additional caregiver's education on the child's nutrition and associated infectious diseases. More studies are needed to better understand the social context in which a child with diarrhoea and undernutrition is inserted.

Effectiveness of Monovalent Rotavirus Vaccine in Mozambique, a Country with a High Burden of Chronic Malnutrition.

Mozambique introduced monovalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix®) in September 2015. We evaluated the effectiveness of Rotarix® under conditions of routine use in Mozambican children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis (AGE). A test negative case-control analysis was performed on data collected during 2017−2019 from children <5 years old, admitted with AGE in seven sentinel hospital sites in Mozambique. Adjusted VE was calculated for ≥1 dose of vaccine vs. zero doses using unconditional logistic regression, where VE = (1 − aOR) × 100%. VE estimates were stratified by age group, AGE severity, malnutrition, and genotype. Among 689 children eligible for analysis, 23.7% were rotavirus positive (cases) and 76.3% were negative (controls). The adjusted VE of ≥1 dose in children aged 6−11 months was 52.0% (95% CI, −11, 79), and −24.0% (95% CI, −459, 62) among children aged 12−23 months. Estimated VE was lower in stunted than non-stunted children (14% (95% CI, −138, 66) vs. 59% (95% CI, −125, 91)). Rotavirus vaccination appeared moderately effective against rotavirus gastroenteritis hospitalization in young Mozambican children. VE point estimates were lower in older and stunted children, although confidence intervals were wide and overlapped across strata. These findings provide additional evidence for other high-mortality countries considering rotavirus vaccine introduction.

Intestinal Parasites in Children up to 14 Years Old Hospitalized with Diarrhea in Mozambique, 2014-2019.

Diarrhea remains a public health problem in Mozambique, even with control strategies being implemented. This analysis aimed to determine the proportion and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) in children up to 14 years old with diarrheal disease, in the southern, central and northern regions of Mozambique. A single diarrheal sample of 1424 children was collected in hospitals and examined using the formol-ether concentration and modified Ziehl−Neelsen techniques to identify intestinal parasites using optical microscopy. Sociodemographic characteristics were obtained by questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were performed, and p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. A single IPI was detected in 19.2% (273/1424) of the children. Cryptosporidium spp. was the most common parasite (8.1%; 115/1424). Polyparasitism was seen in 26.0% (71/273), with the co-infection of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura (26.8%; 19/71) being the most common. Age and province were related to IPI (p-value < 0.05). The highest occurrence of IPI was observed in the wet period (October to March), with 21.9% (140/640), compared to the dry period (April to September), with 16.9% (131/776) (p-value = 0.017). Cryptosporidium spp. and the combination of A. lumbricoides/T. trichiura were the main intestinal parasites observed in children hospitalized with diarrhea in Mozambique.

High Frequency of Cryptosporidium hominis Infecting Infants Points to A Potential Anthroponotic Transmission in Maputo, Mozambique

Cryptosporidium is one of the most important causes of diarrhea in children less than 2 years of age. In this study, we report the frequency, risk factors and species of Cryptosporidium detected by molecular diagnostic methods in children admitted to two public hospitals in Maputo City, Mozambique. We studied 319 patients under the age of five years who were admitted due to diarrhea between April 2015 and February 2016. Single stool samples were examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts, microscopically by using a Modified Ziehl-Neelsen (mZN) staining method and by using Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique using 18S ribosomal RNA gene as a target. Overall, 57.7% (184/319) were males, the median age (Interquartile range, IQR) was 11.0 (7-15) months. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were detected in 11.0% (35/319) by microscopy and in 35.4% (68/192) using PCR-RFLP. The most affected age group were children older than two years, [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 5.861; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.532-22.417; p-value < 0.05]. Children with illiterate caregivers had higher risk of infection (aOR: 1.688; 95% CI: 1.001-2.845; p-value < 0.05). An anthroponotic species C. hominis was found in 93.0% (27/29) of samples. Our findings demonstrated that cryptosporidiosis in children with diarrhea might be caused by anthroponomic transmission.

Genetic characterisation of south african and mozambican bovine rotaviruses reveals a typical bovine-like artiodactyl constellation derived through multiple reassortment events

This study presents whole genomes of seven bovine rotavirus strains from South Africa and Mozambique. Double-stranded RNA, extracted from stool samples without prior adaptation to cell culture, was used to synthesise cDNA using a self-annealing anchor primer ligated to dsRNA and random hexamers. The cDNA was subsequently sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq platform without prior genome amplification. All strains exhibited bovine-like artiodactyl genome constellations (G10/G6-P[11]/P[5]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3/A11/A13-N2-T6-E2-H3). Phylogenetic analysis revealed relatively homogenous strains, which were mostly related to other South African animal strains or to each other. It appears that these study strains represent a specific bo-vine rotavirus population endemic to Southern Africa that was derived through multiple reassortment events. While one Mozambican strain, MPT307, was similar to the South African strains, the second strain, MPT93, was divergent from the other study strains, exhibiting evi-dence of interspecies transmission of the VP1 and NSP2 genes. The data presented in this study not only contribute to the knowledge of circulating African bovine rotavirus strains, but also em-phasise the need for expanded surveillance of animal rotaviruses in African countries in order to improve our understanding of rotavirus strain diversity

Immunogenicity of Reduced-Dose Monovalent Type 2 Oral Poliovirus Vaccine in Mocuba, Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: The monovalent type 2 oral poliovirus vaccine (mOPV2) stockpile is low. One potential strategy to stretch the existing mOPV2 supply is to administer a reduced dose: 1 drop instead of 2. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, controlled, open-label, noninferiority trial (10% margin) to compared immunogenicity after administration of 1 versus 2 drops of mOPV2. We enrolled 9-22-month-old infants from Mocuba district of Mozambique. Poliovirus neutralizing antibodies were measured in serum samples collected before and 1 month after mOPV2 administration. Immune response was defined as seroconversion from seronegative (<1:8) at baseline to seropositive (≥1:8) after vaccination or boosting titers by ≥4-fold for those with titers between 1:8 and 1:362 at baseline. The trial was registered at anzctr.org.au (no. ACTRN12619000184178p). RESULTS: We enrolled 378 children, and 262 (69%) completed per-protocol requirements. The immune response of mOPV2 was 53.6% (95% confidence interval, 44.9%-62.1%) and 60.6% (52.2%-68.4%) in 1-drop and 2-drop recipients, respectively. The noninferiority margin of the 10% was not reached (difference, 7.0%; 95% confidence interval, -5.0% to 19.0%). CONCLUSION: A small loss of immunogenicity of reduced mOPV2 was observed. Although the noninferiority target was not achieved, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization recommended the 1-drop strategy as a dose-sparing measure if mOPV2 supplies deteriorate further.

Genetic Characterisation of South African and Mozambican Bovine Rotaviruses Reveals a Typical Bovine-like Artiodactyl Constellation Derived through Multiple Reassortment Events.

This study presents whole genomes of seven bovine rotavirus strains from South Africa and Mozambique. Double-stranded RNA, extracted from stool samples without prior adaptation to cell culture, was used to synthesise cDNA using a self-annealing anchor primer ligated to dsRNA and random hexamers. The cDNA was subsequently sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq platform without prior genome amplification. All strains exhibited bovine-like artiodactyl genome constellations (G10/G6-P[11]/P[5]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3/A11/A13-N2-T6-E2-H3). Phylogenetic analysis revealed relatively homogenous strains, which were mostly related to other South African animal strains or to each other. It appears that these study strains represent a specific bovine rotavirus population endemic to Southern Africa that was derived through multiple reassortment events. While one Mozambican strain, MPT307, was similar to the South African strains, the second strain, MPT93, was divergent from the other study strains, exhibiting evidence of interspecies transmission of the VP1 and NSP2 genes. The data presented in this study not only contribute to the knowledge of circulating African bovine rotavirus strains, but also emphasise the need for expanded surveillance of animal rotaviruses in African countries in order to improve our understanding of rotavirus strain diversity.

Rotavirus A infection in pre- and post-vaccine period: Risk factors, genotypes distribution by vaccination status and age of children in Nampula Province, Northern Mozambique (2015-2019).

Mozambique introduced the monovalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix®, GSK Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium) in September 2015. Previous analysis, showed that Nampula province continues reporting a high frequency of Rotavirus A (RVA) infection and the emergence of G9P[6], G9P[4] and G3P[4] genotypes. This analysis aimed to determine the RVA frequency; risk factors; genotype distribution by vaccination status and age between pre- and post-vaccine periods in children under-five years old with diarrhea in Nampula. A cross-sectional, hospital-based surveillance study was conducted in the Hospital Central de Nampula in Mozambique. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected to assess factors related to RVA infection in both periods. Stool specimens were screened to detect RVA by ELISA, and positive samples were genotyped. Between 2015 (pre-vaccine period) and 2016-2019 (post-vaccine period), 614 stool specimens were collected and tested for RVA in which 34.9% (67/192) were positive in pre-vaccine period and 21.8% (92/422) in post-vaccine (p = 0.001). In the post-vaccine period, age, year, and contact with different animal species (chicken, duck, or multiple animals) were associated with RVA infection. RVA infection was higher in children partially vaccinated (40.7%, 11/27) followed by the fully vaccinated (29.3%, 56/191) and the unvaccinated (15.3%, 21/137) (p = 0.002). G1P[8] and G9P[4] were common in vaccinated children less than 12 months. The present analysis showed that RVA infection reduced slightly in the post-vaccine period, with a high proportion of infection and genotype diversity in children, under 12 months of age, vaccinated. Further research on factors associated with RVA infection on vaccinated compared to unvaccinated children and vaccination optimization should be done.

High Frequency of Cryptosporidium hominis Infecting Infants Points to A Potential Anthroponotic Transmission in Maputo, Mozambique.

Cryptosporidium is one of the most important causes of diarrhea in children less than 2 years of age. In this study, we report the frequency, risk factors and species of Cryptosporidium detected by molecular diagnostic methods in children admitted to two public hospitals in Maputo City, Mozambique. We studied 319 patients under the age of five years who were admitted due to diarrhea between April 2015 and February 2016. Single stool samples were examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts, microscopically by using a Modified Ziehl-Neelsen (mZN) staining method and by using Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique using 18S ribosomal RNA gene as a target. Overall, 57.7% (184/319) were males, the median age (Interquartile range, IQR) was 11.0 (7-15) months. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were detected in 11.0% (35/319) by microscopy and in 35.4% (68/192) using PCR-RFLP. The most affected age group were children older than two years, [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 5.861; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.532-22.417; p-value < 0.05]. Children with illiterate caregivers had higher risk of infection (aOR: 1.688; 95% CI: 1.001-2.845; p-value < 0.05). An anthroponotic species C. hominis was found in 93.0% (27/29) of samples. Our findings demonstrated that cryptosporidiosis in children with diarrhea might be caused by anthroponomic transmission.