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Background: Syphilis and HIV can be transmitted from pregnant women to their children and they remain a public health problem in Africa. Our study aimed to determine the trends of seroprevalence of HIV/syphilis co-infection and syphilis infection overtime through the national surveillance system in Cameroon and to explore associated risk factors. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional studies of HIV and syphilis, targeting each year 7000 first antenatal care (ANC-1) attendees at the same sites during the 2009, 2012 and 2017 sentinel surveillance surveys. Pregnant women were enrolled at their ANC-1, sociodemographic and clinical information were collected. HIV and Syphilis test were performed by serial algorithm as per the national guidelines. Trends were assessed for HIV, syphilis and HIV/syphilis by estimating seroprevalence from cross-sectional studies. Associated risk factors were explored using multinomial logistic regression with 4 outcomes: HIV/syphilis co-infection, HIV infection only, syphilis infection only and no infection. Results: Overall, 6 632, 6 521 and 6 859 pregnant women were enrolled in 2009, 2012 and 2017 respectively. In 2017, a total of 3 901 pregnant women enrolled were tested for syphilis. Almost half of them (47.9%) were living in urban area and were aged less than 25 years (44.7%). While HIV epidemic was on a decline (from 7.6% (95% CI: 6.99–8.28) in 2009 to 5.7% (95% CI: 4.93–6.4) in 2017), a huge significant increase of syphilis prevalence was observed (from 0.6% (95% CI:0.40–0.80) in 2009 to 5.7% (95% CI:4.93–6.40) in 2017). Pregnant women residing in rural areas were more likely to be infected with syphilis than those living in the urban area (aOR = 1.8 [95% CI: 1.3–2.4]). Unmarried pregnant women were three time more likely to be infected by HIV/Syphilis Co-infection than married, cohabiting, widow or divorced pregnant women (aOR = 2.8 [95% CI: 1.3–2.4]). Furthermore; living in Northern region was associated with a lower risk of being infected with HIV (aOR = 0.6 [95% CI: 0.5–0.9]) and Syphilis infection (aOR = 0.6 [95% CI: 0.4–0.9]). Conclusion: The epidemiological dynamics of syphilis suggests a growing burden of syphilis infection in the general population of Cameroon. Our findings support the fact that while emphasizing strategies to fight HIV, huge efforts should also be made for strategies to prevent and fight syphilis infection especially among HIV positive women, in rural area, and southern regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some risk factors for mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV have been identified. To further reduce MTCT, other risk factors were evaluated.Materials and Methods: A retrospective study on early infant diagnosis was conducted. Two-sided chi-square test was used to assess associations with infant HIV status.Results: A total of 15 233 HIV-infected mothers and 15 404 infants were recruited. MTCT rate was 9.34%. Only 3.8% of infants born to mothers on antiretroviral treatment were infected. Under nevirapine, 4.1% of infants were infected. MTCT increased with infant' age at testing. Younger mothers tend to transmit more HIV (P = 0.003). More children were infected in single pregnancies compared with multiple pregnancies, P < 0.001. There were more infections in male-female twins' sets (P = 0.037).Conclusions: Maternal age, type of pregnancy and twins' sets are new MTCT risk factors. Strategies to further decrease transmission through family planning, pre/post natal consultations and clinical practices are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection (HIV) remains a public health concern in Cameroon that requires regular surveillance for informed policy-making to guide programmatic interventions. Using data from the 2016 HIV national sentinel survey in Cameroon, we ascertained HIV prevalence and factors associated with risk of infection among pregnant women Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted throughout 2016 in the 10 regions of Cameroon, targeting 7000 first antenatal care (ANC-1) attendees (4000 from urban and 3000 from rural areas) in 60 sentinel health facilities. HIV serological test was performed using the national serial algorithm at the National Reference Laboratory (NRL). Prevalence was determined, and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess determinants of HIV infection, with p-value<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results Of the 7000 targeted participants, a total of 6859 first ANC-1 attendees were enrolled (98.0% sampling coverage). Median age was 26 [IQR: 21–30] years and 47,40% had a secondary school level of education. The national prevalence of HIV was 5.70% (95% CI: 4.93–6.40) and range from 9.7% in East region to 2.6% in North region. The prevalence was 5.58% (95% CI: 95%: 4.88–6.35) in urban and 5.87% (95% CI: 5.04–6.78) in rural settings. Factors that were associated with HIV infection included marital status, women who were married or living with their partner are less likely to be infected than singles women (aOR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.46–0.78), multiparity [aOR = 1.5(95%CI:1.0–2.2)] and been living in the Centre, East, North-west and South-west regions. HIV infection was also significantly associated with age, with the risk of being infected increasing with age. Conclusion Pregnant women in Cameroon are still disproportionately infected with HIV compared with the general population (prevalence 4.3%). Preventive actions to curb the epidemic amongst pregnant women should prioritize interventions targeting single pregnant women, who are older, and residing particularly in the Centre, East, North West and South West regions of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research is a vital component for the development of any country. In Cameroon, HIV Operational research is rapidly growing, however, it faces some intractable problems which can only be solved through an urgent, strategic, efficient, and collaborative approach involving key stakeholders. The Kribi meeting (09 and 10th December 2020) brought together under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Health leading HIV research organisations and connected HIV researchers and actors from different sectors. These actors disseminated and discussed recent research findings and worked out mechanisms to advance HIV research development, developed new ideas and identified priority research areas, with emphasis on translational research. The official launching and consolidation of Cam-HERO was a critical step and it is hoped that these synergistic efforts will catalyse attainment of the 95-95-95 goals in Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: HIV infection is characterized by changes in the composition and functions of gut microbiota. We carried out a study aiming at comparing the compositional changes of the digestive flora of HIV infected infants versus that of non infected infants in Cameroon. Methods: a case-control study was carried out during which stool sample was collected from each participant after obtaining the proxy consent . Stools were cultured using aerobic, strict anaerobic, 10% CO2 and micro-aerophilic conditions and specific culture media and bacteria were identified biochemically. Fisher's exact test was used for data analyses. Results: from the 80 infants enrolled for the study, 33 (41.3%) were HIV positive. A statistically significant difference was observed between the number of infected versus non infected infants harboring the following bacteria: Clostridium spp. (P=0.009); Enterococcus spp. (p<0.001); Klebsiella (p<0.001); Shigella (<0.001); Staphylococcus aureus (p=0.006) and Streptococcus spp. (P=0.015). Among infected infants, WHO-stage 3 and 4 infants harbored more opportunistic bacteria than stage 1 and stage 2 and Bacteriodes spp. population was depleted as the disease progresses, although not significantly. There was an imbalance in bacteria flora in HIV infected infants harboring qualitatively more bacteria including more opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria than in HIV non-infected infants. Conclusion: HIV infected infants presented a qualitatively different flora from HIV non infected infants. They habored more pathogenic bacteria than non infected infants. Systematic stool culture could benefit for follow-up of HIV infected infants to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal disorders and thus the risk of high morbidity or high mortability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]