Efficacy and tolerance of ivermectin in human onchocerciasis

Initial clinical studies in 32 Senegalese subjects have demonstrated the efficacy of ivermectin in Onchocerca volvulus infection (river blindness). Although O. volvulus microfilariae in skin snips were not reduced in number after single oral doses of 5 micrograms or 10 micrograms/kg body-weight, they were greatly reduced in all subjects after single oral doses of 30 micrograms or 50 micrograms/kg and were eliminated completely in 6 of th 8 subjects who received the 50 micrograms/kg dose. All subjects tolerated the drug well. Transient pruritus which did not require treatment was observed on the day the dose was given in 2 of the 8 subjects after the 30 micrograms/kg dose and in 4 of the 8 who received the 50 micrograms/kg dose. Ivermectin produced no abnormal laboratory results.     

Priapism in sickle cell anaemia in Senegal: prevalence, attitudes and knowledge

We interviewed 108 sickle cell anaemia patients aged 5 years older on priapism, and 113 healthy subjects in a control group. They were recruited in the out-patient consultation of the two sickle cell anemia care units of the Fann teaching hospital in Dakar. Ten cases of priapism were identified, all in the group of sickle cell patients (the difference is significant, p = 0.004). Prevalence of priapism was 9.3%. Actuarial probability of having priapism was 8.3% by 10 years of age, and 38.9% +/- 5.7 by 20 years of age. Before the interview, only 10.2% of the sickle cell patients and 8% in the control group knew about priapism, and most of them were unaware of its association with sickle cell disease (75% of sickle cell anaemia patients and 80% of control subjects). This lack of information should be improved by an educational program.     

Epidemiological and clinical features of HIV-2 infection in Dakar

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article was to describe the epidemiological and clinical aspects of HIV-2 infection in Dakar. DESIGN AND METHODS: This retrospective study was made on 217 HIV-2 infected patients hospitalized between 1986 and 2003; the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical data was collected and analyzed using the Epi-Info software version 6.04. RESULTS: The mean age was 40 years+/-9.6 and the male to female sex ratio was 1.33. The mode of transmission was primarily heterosexual. Some risk factors (travel abroad, heterosexual multi-partners, and unprotected sexual intercourse) were more frequently observed in men while others (blood transfusion, HIV positive partners) were noted among HIV-2 infected women. The most frequent symptoms were weight loss (88%), diarrhea (77%), fever (72.4%), asthenia (70.5%), chronic cough, and dermatosis (50.7%). The main opportunistic infections were oral candidiasis (61.8%), tuberculosis (26.3%), intestinal parasitosis (20.3%). The lethality rate was 33.2% and it was correlated with a low CD4 rate. Meningoencephalitis and bacterial infections were associated with a high lethality rate. CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiological and clinical aspects of HIV-2 infection were the same as in HIV-1 infected patients. However the lethality rate remained high among patients hospitalized with a low CD4 cell count. Early HIV testing and improving the diagnostic approach for opportunistic infections remains a high priority.     

What is the effect of combining artesunate and praziquantel in the treatment of Schistosoma mansoni infections?

A group of 110 individuals with Schistosoma mansoni infection was investigated. Patients were allocated to one of three treatment groups and given artesunate or praziquantel alone or both in combination. Combined artesunate-praziquantel significantly increased the number of individuals cured at 5 weeks post-treatment, but at 12 weeks was only better than artesunate alone and at 24 weeks there was no statistically significant difference between the three groups. Egg count reduction rate was similar to the rate obtained with praziquantel used alone.     

Specific isotype immune response in the diagnosis of human schistosomiasis pathology?

Since the few indirect markers available for assessing the development and the stage of intestinal schistosomiasis morbidity are weakly specific, endoscopy is still the only method able to detect severe forms of pathology. Therefore, we evaluated the isotype antibody response to the current schistosome antigen preparation (soluble egg antigens [SEA]) in 142 Senegalese patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni. They were stratified into three different stages of pathology according to ultrasonographic, endoscopic, and clinical parameters (stage 1 = no detectable pathology; stage 2 = moderate morbidity; stage 3 = severe forms of pathology). Only median specific IgG4, IgE, and IgA responses changed according to the stage of pathology. The IgA level was significantly higher in stages 2 and 3 compared with stage 1, and the IgE level was higher in stage 3 compared with stage 1. A high specific IgG4 level was observed only in stage 3 and was significantly different compared with stage 2. We show an association between the variability of the specific response to SEA and the degree of morbidity, and demonstrate that IgA and IgG4 responses could be combined markers to easily discriminate the different stages of pathology due to infection with S. mansoni.     

Epidemiology and therapy of malignant hemopathies in Senega

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of malignant hemopathies among patients in Dakar hospital and to examine the current methods of treatment in Senegal. A retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed in Dakar hospitals from 1st January 1986 to 31st December 1992 revealed 210 cases of malignant hemopathies, but only 155 patient records were retrieved (73.8%). The prevalence of malignant hemopoathies was 7/1000 and males were predominant with a sex ratio of 1.6 (p = 0.0001). Acute leukaemias (AL) appeared mainly in young people with a mean age of occurrence of 18.8 years, while immunoproliferative syndromes (IS) and myeloproliferative syndromes (MS) were mostly found in adults with respective mean ages of occurrence of 38.9 and 38.7 years (p = 0.000004 AL vs IS, p = 0.00001 AL vs MS). Concerning therapy, 14.2% of patients died without treatment and 26.1% received only symptomatic treatment. Chemotherapy was employed in 61% of cases, complete remission being obtained in 20.6% of these patients but of no remission in the remaining 79.4%. Mean survival was 2 months for AL, 5 months for IS and 6 months for MS. Close collaboration between haematologists and clinicians and creation of a specialized clinical haematology department will be necessary to overcome current difficulties in the treatment of these affections.     

Are the cellular immune responses of children and adults with Schistosoma mansoni infection intrinsically different? Cytokines produced ex vivo in response to antigens and mitogens

In recently exposed communities, intensity of schistosomiasis infection increases as children age and then drops again in adulthood, indicating that host maturity is an important aspect of resistance to schistosomiasis. We investigated whether the cellular immune response to the parasite was correlated with age in subjects with similar daily patterns of exposure, current intensities of infection and number of years of exposure. The cellular immune response of subjects with either 'low' (under 200 eggs per gram (EPG)) or 'high' (over 400 EPG) intensities of infection was investigated, in a recently established focus where subjects had similar histories of exposure and number of years of experience with Schistosoma mansoni. Subject's whole blood was cultured with adult worm antigen (AWA), a mixture of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or left unstimulated, and culture supernatants were tested for IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 and IFN-gamma. Children and adults tended to respond differently to schistosome antigen. The most statistically significant illustration of this was the negative correlation between age and IL-5 produced by samples from people with low intensities of infection cultured with AWA (P < 0.003, P < 0.05 after Bonferroni correction). IL-10 produced by samples cultured with PHA and LPS was also notably lower in children than in adults, although not formally significant after Bonferroni correction. This indicates that it is possible for age, independently of intensity of infection or experience with the parasite, to influence the immune response to schistosomiasis.     

Presenting features at diagnosis and complications of hemophilia in Dakar: apropos of 25 cases

In order to describe the presenting features at diagnosis and complications of hemophilia in Dakar, we conducted a study of hospital records between October 1991 and January 1993. Twenty-five cases of hemophilia were identified. We found that only 4% of our patients were diagnosed in the first 6 months of life whereas 64% of patients were diagnosed between 6 months and 5 years of age, 32% were detected between 5 years and 14 years of age. The presenting feature at diagnosis was external bleeding in 60% of cases and internal bleeding in 40%. 92% of cases were hemophilia type A and only 8% hemophilia type B. 56% of patients had mild hemophilia, 40% moderate and only 4% severe disease. Hemophiliac arthropathy was present on radiography in 76%. Complications were dominated by repeated joint bleeding, which was present in 92% of patients, and repeated hematomas (80% of patients). A functional handicap was present in 60% of cases. 12% of transfused hemophiliacs developed an inhibitor and 4% of patients were HIV positive. Greater awareness of hemophilia amongst the medical community as well as continued efforts to improve care for hemophiliacs in Senegal are necessary.