Etude epidemiologique des serpents venimeux et prise en charge des envenimations a Kindia (Guinee)

De juin a decembre 2004 une collecte de serpents a ete organisee dans huit localites des environs de Kindia; une region de Guinee Conakry ou l'incidence des morsures de serpents et des deces qu'elles occasionnent sont parmi les plus elevees signalees dans le monde. Un total de 916 specimens a ete recolte; dont 90 Elapides (9;8) et 174Viperides (19;0). Le Mamba noir Dendroaspis polylepis etait represente par huit specimens; soit pres de 1de l'ensemble des serpents collectes. Cette espece consideree comme tres rare en Afrique de l'Ouest apparait comme frequente dans cette region de Guinee. Les difficultes actuelles de prise en charge des victimes de morsure de serpents provoquees par la forte augmentation du cout du traitement antivenimeux sont discutees

Susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum strains to mefloquine in an urban area in Senegal

A total of 47 nonimmune febrile patients from Pikine, Senegal, with greater than 1,000 Plasmodium falciparum asexual forms per microliter whole blood were given 12.5 mg per kg body weight of mefloquine in a single oral dose and were followed up daily until day 7 and also on day 14 of the study. Seven of the patients who vomited, four who had 4-aminoquinolines in their blood, and five dropouts were excluded. Fever and parasitaemia were suppressed within four days until day fourteen in 29 of the 31 remaining patients, including 10 with P. falciparum strains that had a low sensitivity to mefloquine. Two failures were due to poor absorption of mefloquine. The presence of P. falciparum strains with low in vitro susceptibility to mefloquine did not affect, within 14 days, the clinical and parasitological efficacy of a single oral dose mefloquine regimen in patients who had received no previous antimalarial treatment and who did not have partial immune protection