• Humans
• Female
• Seroepidemiologic Studies
• Pregnancy
• Toxoplasmosis/epidemiology
• Toxoplasma/immunology
• Africa/epidemiology
• Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic/epidemiology
• Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic/parasitology
• Antibodies, Protozoan/blood
• Animals
• Prevalence
• Pregnant Women

• HTLV-1
• education
• employment
• income
• social determinant of health

• Humans
• Adult
• Human T-lymphotropic virus 1
• HTLV-I Infections/epidemiology
• Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic/epidemiology
• Risk Factors
• Socioeconomic Factors

• Africa
• Human immunodeficiency virus
• Meta-analysis
• Pregnant women
• Prevalence
• Review

• Mogadishu City
• Pregnant women
• Prevalence
• Risk factors
• Somalia
• Toxoplasma gondii

Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) co-infection occur in many populations. People living with HIV-1 and infected with HTLV-1 seem more likely to progress rapidly towards AIDS. Both HTLV-1 and HIV-1 are endemic in Gabon (Central Africa). We investigated HTLV-1 and HIV-1 co-infection in the Haut-Ogooué province, and assessed factors that may favor the rapid evolution and progression to AIDS in co-infected patients.

Plasma samples from HTLV-1 patients were tested using ELISA, and positive samples were then tested by western blot assay (WB). We used the polymerase chain reaction to detect HTLV-1 Tax/Rex genes using DNA extracted from the buffy coat of ELISA-positives samples.

We recruited 299 individuals (mean age 46 years) including 90 (30%) men and 209 (70%) women, all of whom are under treatment at the Ambulatory Treatment Centre of the province. Of these, 45 were ELISA HTLV-1/2 seropositive. According to WB criteria, 21 of 45 were confirmed positive: 20 were HTLV-1 (44%), 1 was HTLV-1/2 (2%), 2 were indeterminate (4%) and 22 were seronegative (49%). PCR results showed that 23 individuals were positive for the Tax/Rex region. Considering both serological and molecular assays, the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection was estimated at 7.7%. Being a woman and increasing age were found to be independent risk factors for co-infection. Mean CD4+ cell counts were higher in HTLV-1/HIV-1 co-infected (578.1 (± 340.8) cells/mm³) than in HIV-1 mono-infected (481.0 (± 299.0) cells/mm³) Individuals. Similarly, the mean HIV-1 viral load was Log 3.0 (± 1.6) copies/ml in mono-infected and Log 2.3 (± 0.7) copies/ml in coinfected individuals.

We described an overall high prevalence of HTLV-1/HIV-1 co-infection in Gabon. Our findings stress the need of strategies to prevent and manage these co-infections.

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Blotting, Western
• Coinfection/epidemiology
• Female
• Gabon/epidemiology
• HIV
• HIV Infections/complications
• HIV Infections/epidemiology
• HTLV-I Infections/complications
• HTLV-I Infections/epidemiology
• Human T-lymphotropic virus 1/genetics
• Human T-lymphotropic virus 2/genetics
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged

Following a rubella outbreak in 2011, Vietnam implemented a mass measles-rubella vaccination campaign for children aged 1–14 years in 2014–2015, further expanding the target age to 16–17 years in 2016; routine vaccination was introduced in 2014. However, there was concern that a substantial proportion of women of child-bearing age were still susceptible to rubella, with the fear of congenital rubella emergence. Thus, we conducted a prospective cohort study in Nha Trang, Vietnam, from 2017–2018 to investigate pregnant women’s susceptibility to rubella infection, the incidence of congenital rubella infection, and factors associated with susceptibility. Cord blood was tested for rubella-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG; neonatal saliva and cord blood specimens were examined for rubella-RNA. We analyzed 2013 mother-baby pairs. No baby was rubella-IgM or rubella-RNA positive. Overall, 20.4% of mothers were seronegative (95% confidence interval, 18.6%–22.1%). The seronegativity was significantly low among mothers aged <35 years. We found that maternal age groups of 20–24 and 25–29 years, and the lack of self-reported vaccination history were significantly associated with seronegativity. Many pregnant women who were not covered by the vaccination campaign are still at risk of rubella infection.

• Rubella-containing vaccine
• Vietnam
• congenital rubella syndrome
• infants
• pregnant women
• seronegative
• seroprevalence

The African continent is considered to be the largest endemic area of HTLV‐1 infection, with at least several million infected individuals. Systematic screening of blood donors can prevent the transmission of HTLV‐1 in blood. Gabon is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HTLV‐1 worldwide, and yet the routine testing of blood donors has still not been introduced.

All blood donations collected between April and July 2017 at the Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine of Gabon were studied. Plasma samples were screened by ELISA for the presence of HTLV‐1/2 antibodies. Western blot (WB) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were used for confirmation.

In total, 3123 blood donors were tested, including 1740 repeat and 1378 first‐time blood donors (FTBDs). Of them, 132 samples tested positive for HTLV‐1/2 by ELISA (4.2%). WB and PCR confirmed HTLV‐1 infection for 23 individuals. The overall prevalence of HTLV‐1 was 0.74% [95% CI 0.47%‐1.10%], 1% in FTBD, and 0.5% in repeat donors. Age and sex‐adjusted prevalence was five‐fold lower in FTBD than in the general adult population of rural areas of Gabon. All detected HTLV‐1 strains belonged to the central African HTLV‐1b genotype but were highly diverse.

We report an overall prevalence of HTLV‐1 of 0.74%, one of the highest values reported for blood donors in Africa. Given the high risk of HTLV‐1 transmission in blood, it is necessary to conduct cost‐effectiveness studies to determine the need and feasibility of implementing screening of HTLV‐1 in blood donors in Gabon.

• Meta-analysis
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• pregnant women
• rubella virus

• Adverse pregnancy outcome
• Nigeria
• pregnant women
• toxoplasmosis.

• Female
• Humans
• Infant, Newborn
• Nigeria/epidemiology
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic/epidemiology
• Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic/parasitology
• Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic/therapy
• Toxoplasmosis, Congenital/epidemiology
• Toxoplasmosis, Congenital/parasitology
• Toxoplasmosis, Congenital/prevention & control

to analyze the trend and spatial distribution of some diseases that require compulsory notification in pregnant women.

ecological study, with data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, of the incidence of the six most frequent diseases that, require compulsory notification, in pregnant women. The Prais-Winsten model was used to analyze the trend classified as stable, decreasing and increasing, according to macro-regions. For the spatial analysis, the incidences distributed in percentiles, in choropleth maps, by Health Regions were calculated.

the most frequent infections were syphilis, dengue, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, influenza, hepatitis and toxoplasmosis. Incidence increased by 30.8%, 30.4%, 15.4% and 2.6%, on average, for syphilis, toxoplasmosis, dengue and Human Immunodeficiency Virus, respectively. On average, the incidence of syphilis increased by 40.5% in Macro-regional North and 38% in Macro-regional Northwest. The spatial analysis showed, in the last four years, high incidence of dengue, syphilis and infection by Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which reached 180.2, 141.7 and 100.8 cases per 10,000 live births, respectively.

there were increased incidences of infection in pregnant women due to syphilis, toxoplasmosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus, with differences in their spatial distribution, indicating that these diseases should be a priority in the care of pregnant women in more affected regions.