Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massiv... more Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, exceeding 100,000 genomes generated to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence within their own borders, coupled with a decrease in sequencing turnaround time. Findings from this genomic surveillance underscores the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic but we observe repeated dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 variants within the continent. Sustained investment for genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, particularly in the low vaccination landscape. These investments are very crucial for preparedness and response for future pathogen outbreaks.One-Sentence SummaryExpanding Africa SARS-CoV-2 sequencing capacity in a fast evolving pandemic.
International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021
For an increasing number of infections and causative agents, treatment becomes more difficult or ... more For an increasing number of infections and causative agents, treatment becomes more difficult or impossible because of the loss of antibiotic efficacy. As a result, resistance is a real public health problem. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of community bacterial infection as well as to establish a susceptibility profile of bacteria isolated from antibiotics. It is a prospective study, descriptive type. It was conducted in a non-hospital setting over a six-month period. The inclusion criteria were all positive specimens: urinary examination, vaginal sampling, urethral sampling, pus, sputum, sperm. Exclusion criteria included patients with negative examinations and other microorganisms (viruses, fungal infections and parasites). The data collection was done using an information sheet. An antibiogram is performed for the study of resistance. Data mining was performed and analyzed statistically. Of 1565 samples that met the inclusion criteria, 1228 strains were G...
Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica, 2021
Bacteriological cultures from cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) have less sensitivity and specificity co... more Bacteriological cultures from cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) have less sensitivity and specificity compared to quantitative PCR (RT-PCR), and multiple facts still conduct to the increase of negative culture. The aims of this study are to determine the molecular epidemiology and the simultaneous detection of bacterial meningitis in Morocco by using RT-PCR and compared this molecular approach with culture method to improve the etiological diagnosis of meningitis. The CSFs were collected over one-year period in 2018 in different hospitals covering all regions of the Kingdom of Morocco, from patients with suspected meningitis. The results showed the confirmation rate per culture recorded a rate of 33% and the RT-PCR of 70%. Molecular epidemiology is predominant of Neisseria meningitidis followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae and a dramatic reduction in meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae following the introduction of conjugate vaccine in 2007. Also, the epidemiological profile shows a se...
International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 2017
Recently, several countries reported imported cases of infection with chikungunya virus (CHIKV). ... more Recently, several countries reported imported cases of infection with chikungunya virus (CHIKV). We report the first case of chikungunya virus infection in Morocco. A 37-year old woman returned to Morocco on 15 August 2017, after she stayed in Dhaka-Bangladesh for 18months. She developed severe arthralgias and rash, fever up to 39°c. In next day’s symptoms progressively subsided but arthralgias remained for 3weeks. Laboratory findings didn't show lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia or elevated liver transaminases. Serological tests were positive for CHIKV IgM and negative for IgG antibodies. CHIKV-RNA was detected by RT-PCR. The patient was treated with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol. After 15days of hospitalization, symptoms ameliorated but arthralgias persists. The vector is established in Morocco and since the virus is diagnosed in returning travellers, chikungunya has a potential for autochthonous transmission in Morocco, that’s why CHIKV must be included in t...
International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne infection in humans, and its worldwide prevalence is rapid... more Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne infection in humans, and its worldwide prevalence is rapidly increasing. The vector aedes albopictus has been revealed recently in the town of Rabat. Morocco established a program of active surveillance of dengue fever comprising many hospitals and laboratories across the kingdom. The purpose of this work is to describe the result of the surveillance of the dengue virus (DENV) infection during the year of 2017 among Moroccans and tourists who presented in our hospital with clinical signs of infection and to report the first confirmed positive cases of Dengue.From 20 December 2016 to 20 December 2017, 21 patients were hospitalized for suspicion of DENV infection. Half of them were returning from Côte d’Ivoire which is a popular tourist and business country for Moroccans and where an outbreak of DENV was confirmed on July 2017. Fever, headache, arthralgia-myalgia and malaise in addition to the notion of return from an endemic country justify in c...
International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health
Background: In early 2014, Morocco took steps to prevent the Middle East respiratory syndrome dis... more Background: In early 2014, Morocco took steps to prevent the Middle East respiratory syndrome disease from entering into the country. Several facilities have been equipped to accommodate suspected cases. We aimed to report the plan prepared by Morocco to prevent the importation of this infection and to evaluate our experience in the monitoring of suspected cases.Methods: We analyze the data on the forms of surveillance witch collect demographic informations, symptoms, hospitalization, travel history, risk contacts and MERS-CoV test results.Results: Since 2014, 152 patients were addressed to the Mohammed 5 Military Teaching Hospital for suspicion of MERS-CoV. The compliance with the suspect case definition was positive in 78 cases. Of these patients, 93.6% were Moroccans. All of them came from the Middle East and 77% returned from a Hajj trip. The most reported symptoms were fever (92.3%) and cough (84.6%). The most reported underlying conditions were asthma (17.9%) and diabetes (12....
Over a 4-year study period from 2015 to 2018, altogether 183 isolates of bacterial meningitis wer... more Over a 4-year study period from 2015 to 2018, altogether 183 isolates of bacterial meningitis were collected from 12 hospitals covering the entire Moroccan territory. Neisseria meningitidis represented 58.5%, Streptococcus pneumoniae 35.5%, and Haemophilus influenzae type b 6%. H. influenzae type b mainly affected 5-year-olds and unvaccinated adults. N. meningitidis serogroup B represented 90.7% followed by serogroup W135 with 6.5%. Decreased susceptibility to penicillin G (DSPG) for all isolates accounted for 15.7%, with 11.6% being resistant to penicillin G (PG) and 4.1% decreased susceptibility. Cumulative results of all strains showed 2.7% decreased susceptibility to amoxicillin and 3.3% resistant, 2.2% of isolates were resistant to third-generation cephalosporin and 2.2% were decreased susceptible, 5.5% were resistant to chloramphenicol and 2.7% were resistant to rifampin. The frequency of DSPG observed in our study is more common in S. pneumoniae than in N. meningitidis (P <...
Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massiv... more Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, exceeding 100,000 genomes generated to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence within their own borders, coupled with a decrease in sequencing turnaround time. Findings from this genomic surveillance underscores the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic but we observe repeated dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 variants within the continent. Sustained investment for genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, particularly in the low vaccination landscape. These investments are very crucial for preparedness and response for future pathogen outbreaks.One-Sentence SummaryExpanding Africa SARS-CoV-2 sequencing capacity in a fast evolving pandemic.
International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021
For an increasing number of infections and causative agents, treatment becomes more difficult or ... more For an increasing number of infections and causative agents, treatment becomes more difficult or impossible because of the loss of antibiotic efficacy. As a result, resistance is a real public health problem. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of community bacterial infection as well as to establish a susceptibility profile of bacteria isolated from antibiotics. It is a prospective study, descriptive type. It was conducted in a non-hospital setting over a six-month period. The inclusion criteria were all positive specimens: urinary examination, vaginal sampling, urethral sampling, pus, sputum, sperm. Exclusion criteria included patients with negative examinations and other microorganisms (viruses, fungal infections and parasites). The data collection was done using an information sheet. An antibiogram is performed for the study of resistance. Data mining was performed and analyzed statistically. Of 1565 samples that met the inclusion criteria, 1228 strains were G...
Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica, 2021
Bacteriological cultures from cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) have less sensitivity and specificity co... more Bacteriological cultures from cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) have less sensitivity and specificity compared to quantitative PCR (RT-PCR), and multiple facts still conduct to the increase of negative culture. The aims of this study are to determine the molecular epidemiology and the simultaneous detection of bacterial meningitis in Morocco by using RT-PCR and compared this molecular approach with culture method to improve the etiological diagnosis of meningitis. The CSFs were collected over one-year period in 2018 in different hospitals covering all regions of the Kingdom of Morocco, from patients with suspected meningitis. The results showed the confirmation rate per culture recorded a rate of 33% and the RT-PCR of 70%. Molecular epidemiology is predominant of Neisseria meningitidis followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae and a dramatic reduction in meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae following the introduction of conjugate vaccine in 2007. Also, the epidemiological profile shows a se...
International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 2017
Recently, several countries reported imported cases of infection with chikungunya virus (CHIKV). ... more Recently, several countries reported imported cases of infection with chikungunya virus (CHIKV). We report the first case of chikungunya virus infection in Morocco. A 37-year old woman returned to Morocco on 15 August 2017, after she stayed in Dhaka-Bangladesh for 18months. She developed severe arthralgias and rash, fever up to 39°c. In next day’s symptoms progressively subsided but arthralgias remained for 3weeks. Laboratory findings didn't show lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia or elevated liver transaminases. Serological tests were positive for CHIKV IgM and negative for IgG antibodies. CHIKV-RNA was detected by RT-PCR. The patient was treated with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol. After 15days of hospitalization, symptoms ameliorated but arthralgias persists. The vector is established in Morocco and since the virus is diagnosed in returning travellers, chikungunya has a potential for autochthonous transmission in Morocco, that’s why CHIKV must be included in t...
International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne infection in humans, and its worldwide prevalence is rapid... more Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne infection in humans, and its worldwide prevalence is rapidly increasing. The vector aedes albopictus has been revealed recently in the town of Rabat. Morocco established a program of active surveillance of dengue fever comprising many hospitals and laboratories across the kingdom. The purpose of this work is to describe the result of the surveillance of the dengue virus (DENV) infection during the year of 2017 among Moroccans and tourists who presented in our hospital with clinical signs of infection and to report the first confirmed positive cases of Dengue.From 20 December 2016 to 20 December 2017, 21 patients were hospitalized for suspicion of DENV infection. Half of them were returning from Côte d’Ivoire which is a popular tourist and business country for Moroccans and where an outbreak of DENV was confirmed on July 2017. Fever, headache, arthralgia-myalgia and malaise in addition to the notion of return from an endemic country justify in c...
International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health
Background: In early 2014, Morocco took steps to prevent the Middle East respiratory syndrome dis... more Background: In early 2014, Morocco took steps to prevent the Middle East respiratory syndrome disease from entering into the country. Several facilities have been equipped to accommodate suspected cases. We aimed to report the plan prepared by Morocco to prevent the importation of this infection and to evaluate our experience in the monitoring of suspected cases.Methods: We analyze the data on the forms of surveillance witch collect demographic informations, symptoms, hospitalization, travel history, risk contacts and MERS-CoV test results.Results: Since 2014, 152 patients were addressed to the Mohammed 5 Military Teaching Hospital for suspicion of MERS-CoV. The compliance with the suspect case definition was positive in 78 cases. Of these patients, 93.6% were Moroccans. All of them came from the Middle East and 77% returned from a Hajj trip. The most reported symptoms were fever (92.3%) and cough (84.6%). The most reported underlying conditions were asthma (17.9%) and diabetes (12....
Over a 4-year study period from 2015 to 2018, altogether 183 isolates of bacterial meningitis wer... more Over a 4-year study period from 2015 to 2018, altogether 183 isolates of bacterial meningitis were collected from 12 hospitals covering the entire Moroccan territory. Neisseria meningitidis represented 58.5%, Streptococcus pneumoniae 35.5%, and Haemophilus influenzae type b 6%. H. influenzae type b mainly affected 5-year-olds and unvaccinated adults. N. meningitidis serogroup B represented 90.7% followed by serogroup W135 with 6.5%. Decreased susceptibility to penicillin G (DSPG) for all isolates accounted for 15.7%, with 11.6% being resistant to penicillin G (PG) and 4.1% decreased susceptibility. Cumulative results of all strains showed 2.7% decreased susceptibility to amoxicillin and 3.3% resistant, 2.2% of isolates were resistant to third-generation cephalosporin and 2.2% were decreased susceptible, 5.5% were resistant to chloramphenicol and 2.7% were resistant to rifampin. The frequency of DSPG observed in our study is more common in S. pneumoniae than in N. meningitidis (P <...
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