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Objectives: The syndemic that is COVID-19 and the disproportionate policing of Black communities have recently generated mass social consciousness of the anti-Black racism (ABR) pervading health, social, and cultural institutions. However, little is known about the implementation of public health measures addressing ABR in an evolving pandemic context. The objective of this scoping review is to provide an overview of public health initiatives undertaken to address ABR across North American jurisdictions between December 2019 and June 2022., Methods: A search for public health initiatives was conducted in June 2021 across MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, EBSChost, CINAHL, SocINDEX, and Google.ca. Included initiatives were those focussing on Black, African diasporic, or African American communities in the North American context. Community-led action, as well as initiatives in primary healthcare care, academic journals, and those broadly focused on racialized communities, were excluded from this review., Synthesis: Seventy-five articles were included in this review, suggesting that ABR emerged as a public health priority. Strategies and action plans to address structural ABR were the most common types of initiatives observed (n = 21), followed by programs or interventions (n = 16), budget allocations or investments (n = 8), task forces (n = 7), guidance and recommendations for organizational capacity (n = 8), action-oriented declarations of ABR as a public health crisis (n = 8), and legislation and mandates (n = 7). Initiatives were largely cross-cutting of two or more socioeconomic themes (n = 23), while organizational change was also common (n = 16). Gaps in the current literature include a lack of community participation and outcome measurement for actions identified, which limit institutional accountability to communities of interest., Conclusion: This research provides insights on public health accountability to social justice. This research outlines activities in upstream interventions, organizational transformation, and resource allocation in shaping anti-racist change, and require evaluation and input from those whom initiatives are intended to serve., (© 2024. Crown as represented by King's Printer for Ontario.)

The resurgence of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W with sequence type ST-11 (cc11) was observed in Madagascar in 2015-2016. Three cases were investigated in this study. Molecular characterization of the strains suggests the local transmission of a single genotype that may have been circulating for years., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Venom from the posterior half of the venom duct of Conus Geographus was toxic to mice but without effect on a crab, and produced a flaccid spasmodic paralysis in mice. The minimum lethal dose for mice ranged from 5 micrograms to 50 micrograms (net weight) of venom per mouse. Toxin was submitted to Sephadex G 25 chromatography and to ultrafiltration. The venom was inactivated by pronase. The data suggested that the toxin was a peptide of molecular weight of about 1 500-2 000.

A partially purified extract of leaves of Aloe vahombe, a plant endemic in the south of Madagascar, administered intravenously to mice, protects them against infection of bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia pestis), parasites (Plasmodium berghei) and fungus (Candida albicans). The protective fraction must be administered two days before inoculation of the pathogenic agent. These results significantly confirm those we obtained in earlier study on mice infection by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Currently we are testing the protective action of the purified extract on the experimental development of sarcomas, and we are in the process of analysing the mode of action of this non specific immunostimulant.

An immuno-modulator fraction (Alva) extracted from an endemic plant, in the south of Madagascar, the Aloe vahombe, significantly protects mice against bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections. Wishing to verify whether the fraction Alva was active in tumour reduction, we studied its effect on the development of experimental fibrosarcoma and melanoma in mice by intravenous and intracutaneous injections and injections directly into the tumour of the immunostimulant fraction. We have observed cures, only in the case of the McC3-1 tumour but it is encouraging to note that under different experimental conditions the rate of growth of tumours in animals which were treated is slower than in those not treated. The Alva fraction is a substance which is hydrosoluble, thermostabile, having a molecular weight exceeding 30 000 and is a polysaccharide. The predominant sugars are glucose and mannose in 3:1 ratio. Preliminary studies of its action seem to indicate that the Alva fraction acts upon non-specific response and could possibly stimulate the phagocyte activity of the peritoneal macrophagus.

The most active component in smooth muscle contraction, isolated from the whole venom of the marine snail Conus tessulatus, has a molecular mass of about 55 kDa. The toxin protein, tessulatus toxin, appeared to be constituted by two distinct polypeptide bands of 26 kDa and 29 kDa. The pure toxin caused a marked contraction of both guinea-pig ileum and rabbit aorta at nanomolar concentrations. Tessulatus-toxin-induced contraction was indirectly prevented by classical inhibitors of the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel. Tessulatus toxin caused a large increase in the initial rate of 45Ca2+ uptake by cardiac cells. This uptake was insensitive to Ca2+ channel blockers at concentrations 100-1000 fold higher than those known to block voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in these cells. Voltage clamp experiments have confirmed that tessulatus toxin was not directly active on the Ca2+ current. Tessulatus-toxin-stimulated 45Ca2+ influx was inhibited by dichlorobenzamil and suppressed when Na+ was substituted by Li+, indicating that the toxin acted via activation of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange system in cardiac cells. Activation by tessulatus toxin of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange system occurred via a toxin-stimulated Na+ entry into cardiac cells and was observed in the same range of toxin concentration which produced 45Ca2+ entry. The Na+ entry system that was activated by tessulatus toxin was insensitive to classic inhibitors of known Na+ entry systems in cardiac cells. Possible mechanisms by which tessulatus toxin induced Na+ entry into cardiac cells and contractions in smooth muscles are discussed. Tessulatus toxin is cytotoxic when used at high concentrations.

When the mice are given a hypodermic infection of unrefined Vahombe extract, the Aloe called Vahombe is a liliaceous plant growing in the South of Madagascar, they are protected against the infection caused by the Klebsiella, a pneumonia vector to man, giving rise to an experimental septicaemia in the mouse. Neither bactericide nor bacteriostatic activity has been detected yet about Aloe extract. The anti-infectious activity is proportional to the dose of extract injected, the protecting power is the greatest when the mice have been treated with Aloe, two or three days previously to the infection due to Klebsiella pneumoniae. We have determined the LD50 (Lethal dose 50) for the check batches (non-treated mice) and for the batches of protected mice. We were able to show that the previous injection developed the resistance to infection, multiplied from thirtyfold to a hundrefold. We have tackled the purification of the substance--made soluble after lyophilisation of the crude extract--by means of filtration with Sephadex G50. It would be the first time, for all we know, that a substance endowed with organism. At present we are proceeding with the purification of the active principle and contemplating trying the protective power upon virus infections as well as upon cancerous or parasitic ones.