Feasibility of interrupting the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths: the DeWorm3 community cluster-randomised controlled trial in Benin, India, and Malawi.

Background: Soil-transmitted helminths are targeted for elimination as a public health problem. This study assessed whether, with high coverage, community-wide mass drug administration (MDA) could lead to transmission interruption.

Methods: DeWorm3 is an open-label, community cluster-randomised controlled trial in Benin, India, and Malawi.

Suboptimal distribution and utilization of antenatal care given bed Nets undermine pregnant women's protection in Benin: a prospective field study.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) receive a free long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) during their first antenatal care (ANC) visit to prevent malaria. This study, conducted in Benin, evaluates the distribution and utilization rates of LLINs provided at the first ANC visit among pregnant women.

Methods: Data were collected from 14 public and private health centers located in urban and rural areas across Southern, Central, and Northern Benin.

Understanding the vaccine hesitancy of COVID-19 in Benin.

Vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 have been set up in all countries. The aim was to reach a sufficient vaccination threshold to ensure herd immunity. In Benin, the objective was to achieve 60% coverage.

Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 infection across three sentinels sites in Benin during 2021: A multicentric surveillance study.

NCT06170320 (retrospectively registered on December 21, 2023).

Association between asymptomatic submicroscopic and microscopic malaria infections and anemia: A study in southern Benin.

Introduction: Recently, efforts to eliminate malaria have shifted focus from symptomatic cases alone to include asymptomatic carriers, who are now recognized as significant contributors to the disease's transmission and control. This study examines the relationship between asymptomatic malaria infection and hemoglobin levels in Benin.

Methods: A cohort in Benin was enrolled and categorized into three age groups (under 5 years, 5-15 years, and over 15 years) for follow-up from August to November 2021.

Dynamics of submicroscopic and microscopic asymptomatic malaria infection and associated factors: A longitudinal study in South Benin.

Introduction: Asymptomatic malaria infection is now recognized as a potential threat to malaria control. However, its prevalence and its dynamics are poorly documented especially in a perennial context of high seasonal transmission. A longitudinal study was conducted in southern Benin to investigate the dynamics of asymptomatic malaria infection and to identify factors influencing it.

New guidelines reduce the risk of hospitalization for adult patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria: An observational, multicenter, retrospective French study.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the impact of malaria declaration year (before or after 2017) on the frequency of hospitalization in metropolitan France of patients with uncomplicated non-vomiting P.falciparum malaria.

Patients And Methods: An observational, multicenter, retrospective study was carried out, using the database from the French National Reference Centre for Malaria.

Plasmodium ovale spp dhfr mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to pyrimethamine in sub-Saharan Africa: a retrospective genetic epidemiology and functional study.

Background: Mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum dhfr gene confer resistance to pyrimethamine, which is widely used for malaria chemoprevention in Africa. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and evolution of dhfr mutations in Plasmodium ovale spp in Africa and their functional consequences, which are incompletely characterised.

Methods: We analysed dhfr mutations and their frequencies in P ovale spp isolates collected between Feb 1, 2004, and Aug 31, 2023, from the French National Malaria Reference Centre collection and from field studies in Benin, Gabon, and Kenya.

Revealing invisible cell phenotypes with conditional generative modeling.

Biological sciences, drug discovery and medicine rely heavily on cell phenotype perturbation and microscope observation. However, most cellular phenotypic changes are subtle and thus hidden from us by natural cell variability: two cells in the same condition already look different. In this study, we show that conditional generative models can be used to transform an image of cells from any one condition to another, thus canceling cell variability.

Malaria Infections and Placental Blood Flow: A Doppler Ultrasound Study From a Preconception Cohort in Benin.

Background: Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) has been associated with fetal growth restriction, the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. Malaria in pregnancy is suspected to induce abnormalities in placental vascularization, leading to impaired placental development. Our study evaluated MIP's effect on uterine artery (UtA) and umbilical artery (UA) blood flow.

Prevalence of and risk factors for microscopic and submicroscopic malaria infections in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Malaria infections during pregnancy can cause adverse birth outcomes, yet many infections are undetected by microscopy. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of submicroscopic malaria infections in pregnant women in Asia, the Americas, and Africa using aggregated and individual participant data (IPD).

Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, studies (published Jan 1, 1997 to Nov 10, 2021) with information on both microscopic and submicroscopic infections during pregnancy from Asia, the Americas, or Africa, identified in the Malaria-in-Pregnancy Library, were eligible.

Interest of seroprevalence surveys for the epidemiological surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in African populations: Insights from the ARIACOV project in Benin.

Background: Many SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys since the end of 2020 have disqualified the first misconception that Africa had been spared by the pandemic. Through the analysis of three SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys carried out in Benin as part of the ARIACOV project, we argue that the integration of epidemiological serosurveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the national surveillance packages would be of great use to refine the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Methods: We carried out three repeated cross-sectional surveys in Benin: two in Cotonou, the economic capital in March and May 2021, and one in Natitingou, a semi-rural city in the north of the country in August 2021.

Measuring entomological parameters before implementing a study on asymptomatic carriers of Plasmodium falciparum in the Zè District in southern Benin.

Background: The objective of this study was to estimate malaria transmission and insecticide resistance status in malaria vectors in Adjrako village from Zè District in Southern Benin. The present study was carried out prior to investigations on infectivity of blood from asymptomatic carriers of Plasmodium falciparum to malaria vector mosquitoes.

Methods: Human landing collections (HLCs) were performed in Adjrako village during the rainy season (September-November 2021).

Placental Malaria is Associated with Higher LILRB2 Expression in Monocyte Subsets and Lower Anti-Malarial IgG Antibodies During Infancy.

Background: Placental malaria (PM) is associated with a higher susceptibility of infants to malaria. A hypothesis of immune tolerance has been suggested but no clear explanation has been provided so far. Our goal was to investigate the involvement of inhibitory receptors LILRB1 and LILRB2, known to drive immune evasion upon ligation with pathogen and/or host ligands, in PM-induced immune tolerance.

Malaria in the First Trimester of Pregnancy and Fetal Growth: Results from a Beninese Preconceptional Cohort.

Background: Malaria in early pregnancy occurs at a time when the placenta is developing, with possible consequences for placental function and fetal growth. We assessed the association between first trimester malaria and fetal growth documented through repeated ultrasound scans.

Methods: The RECIPAL preconceptional cohort included 411 Beninese pregnant women followed from 7 weeks' gestation (wg) until delivery.

Factors associated with soil-transmitted helminths infection in Benin: Findings from the DeWorm3 study.

Background: Despite several years of school-based MDA implementation, STH infections remain an important public health problem in Benin, with a country-wide prevalence of 20% in 2015. The DeWorm3 study is designed to assess the feasibility of using community-based MDA with albendazole to interrupt the transmission of STH, through a series of cluster-randomized trials in Benin, India and Malawi. We used the pre-treatment baseline survey data to describe and analyze the factors associated with STH infection in Comé, the study site of the DeWorm3 project in Benin.

Human biting rhythm of Anopheles gambiae Giles, 1902 (Diptera: Culicidae) and sleeping behaviour of pregnant women in a lagoon area in Southern Benin.

Objective: In the framework of EVALMOUS study aiming to assess the use and effectiveness of mosquito nets by pregnant women and other members of their household in a lagoon area in southern Benin, the behaviour of pregnant women relative to the time they go to bed using the net were recorded. Malaria vectors biting rhythm, Plasmodium falciparum infection and insecticide resistance genes in malaria vectors were also determined.

Results: Overall, 3848 females of Anopheles gambiae s.

The Role of Ultrasensitive Molecular Methods for Detecting Malaria-The Broader Perspective.

Ultrasensitive molecular diagnostics are lowering the limit of detection for malaria parasites in the blood and providing insights not captured by conventional tools such as microscopy and rapid antigen tests. Low-level malaria infections identified by molecular tools may influence clinical outcomes, transmission events, and elimination efforts. While many ultrasensitive molecular methods require well-equipped laboratories, technologies such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification and recombinase polymerase amplification provide more portable and analytically sensitive solutions.

Forecasting the effectiveness of the DeWorm3 trial in interrupting the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths in three study sites in Benin, India and Malawi.

Background: The DeWorm3 project is an ongoing cluster-randomised trial assessing the feasibility of interrupting the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) through mass drug administration (MDA) using study sites in India, Malawi and Benin. In this article, we describe an approach which uses a combination of statistical and mathematical methods to forecast the outcome of the trial with respect to its stated goal of reducing the prevalence of infection to below 2%.

Methods: Our approach is first to define the local patterns of transmission within each study site, which is achieved by statistical inference of key epidemiological parameters using the baseline epidemiological measures of age-related prevalence and intensity of STH infection which have been collected by the DeWorm3 trials team.

Suboptimal Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp) is Associated With an Increased Risk of Submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Pregnant Women: A Prospective Cohort Study in Benin.

Background: Harmful maternal and neonatal health outcomes result from malaria in pregnancy, the prevention of which primarily relies on intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). The World Health Organization recommends IPTp-SP in sub-Saharan Africa, but implementation is highly heterogeneous and often suboptimal in terms of the number of doses and their timing. In this study, we assessed the impact of this heterogeneity on malaria in pregnancy, mainly with respect to submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infections.

Correction to: Prevalence and clinical impact of malaria infections detected with a highly sensitive HRP2 rapid diagnostic test in Beninese pregnant women.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.