Cholera Deaths During Outbreaks in Uvira, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 10-35 Months After Mass Vaccination.

Our understanding of the burden and drivers of cholera mortality is hampered by limited surveillance and confirmation capacity. Leveraging enhanced clinical and laboratory surveillance in the cholera-endemic community of Uvira, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, we describe cholera deaths across 3 epidemics between September 2021 and September 2023 following mass vaccination.

Effectiveness of one dose of killed oral cholera vaccine in an endemic community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: A global shortage of cholera vaccines has increased the use of single-dose regimens, rather than the standard two-dose regimen. There is sparse evidence on single-dose protection, particularly in children. In 2020, a mass vaccination campaign was conducted in Uvira, an endemic urban setting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in largely single-dose coverage. We examined the effectiveness of a single-dose of the oral cholera vaccine Euvichol-Plus in this high-burden setting. METHODS: In this matched case-control study, we recruited individuals with medically attended confirmed cholera in the two cholera treatment facilities in the city of Uvira. The control group consisted of age-matched, sex-matched, and neighbourhood-matched community individuals. We recruited across two distinct periods: Oct 14, 2021, to March 10, 2022 (12-17 months after vaccination), and Nov 21, 2022, to Oct 18, 2023 (24-36 months after vaccination). Study staff administered structured questionnaires to all participants to capture demographics, household conditions, potential confounding variables, and vaccination status. The odds of vaccination for the case and control groups were contrasted in conditional logistic regression models to estimate unadjusted and adjusted vaccine effectiveness. FINDINGS: We enrolled 658 individuals with confirmed cholera and 2274 matched individuals for the control group. 99 (15·1%) individuals in the case group were younger than 5 years at the time of vaccination. The adjusted single-dose vaccine effectiveness was 52·7% (95% CI 31·4 to 67·4) 12-17 months after vaccination and 44·7% (24·8 to 59·4) 24-36 months after vaccination. Although protection in the first 12-17 months after vaccination was similar for children aged 1-4 years and older individuals, the estimate of protection in children aged 1-4 years appeared to wane during the third year after vaccination (adjusted vaccine effectiveness 32·9%, 95% CI -30·7 to 65·5), with CIs spanning the null. INTERPRETATION: A single dose of Euvichol-Plus provided substantial protection against medically attended cholera for at least 36 months after vaccination in this cholera-endemic setting. Although the evidence provides support for similar levels of protection in young children and others in the short term, protection among children younger than 5 years might wane significantly during the third year after vaccination. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

[Role of GeneXpert MTB/RIF test in the screening for pulmonary tuberculosis at the General Referral Provincial Hospital of Bukavu, in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: balance after 10 months of use]. / GeneXpert MTB/RIF dans le dépistage de la tuberculose pulmonaire à l'Hôpital Provincial Général de Référence de Bukavu, à l'Est de la République Démocratique du Congo: quelles leçons tirées après 10 mois d'utilisation?

INTRODUCTION: In sub-Saharan Africa, diagnostic methods for tuberculosis are inadequate and are essentially based on microscopy. They constitute a real obstacle to the control of tuberculosis. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF test compared to classical Ziehl-Neelsen staining at the the general referral provincial hospital of Bukavu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after 10 months of use. METHODS: The results of Ziehl-Neelsen staining and GeneXpert MTB/RIF molecular biology test performed in 452 patients with suspected tuberculosis were collected. This study compares the validity of these different diagnostic tests in the detection of tuberculosis. RESULTS: In the entire group, the frequency of the pulmonary tuberculosis was 16.3%. The positivity rate was significantly higher in GeneXpert MTB/RIF test than in Ziehl-Neelsen staining in the entire group (15.9% vs 9.3%, p = 0.03) and in HIV seropositive patients (52.0% vs 24.0%; p = 0.007). However, the sensitivity of GeneXpert MTB/RIF test compared to that in Ziehl-Neelsen staining wasn't maximum (95.2%). Finally, GeneXpert MTB/RIF test detected rifampicin resistance in 20.8%. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the superiority of GeneXpert MTB/RIF test compared to Ziehl-Neelsen staining in the detection of tuberculosis and in the prediction of multi-resistance. Its systematic use coupled with Ziehl-Neelsen staining would better control tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa.

Antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from patients with bloodstream infections at a tertiary care hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a life-threatening condition that requires rapid antimicrobial treatment. METHODS: We determined the prevalence of bacterial isolates associated with BSI at Bukavu General Hospital (BGH), South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and their patterns of susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs, from February 2013 to January 2014. RESULTS: We cultured 112 clinically relevant isolates from 320 blood cultures. Of these isolates, 104 (92.9%) were Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), with 103 bacilli (92.0%) and one coccus (0.9%). Among GNB, Escherichia coli (51.9%), Klebsiella spp. (20.2%), Enterobacter spp. (6.7%), Shigella spp. (5.8%) and Salmonella spp. (4.8%) were the most frequent agents causing BSIs. Other GNB isolates included Proteus spp., Citrobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (both 2.9%), and Acinetobacter spp. and Neisseria spp. (both 0.9%). High rates of resistance to co-trimoxazole (100%), erythromycin (100%) and ampicillin (66.7-100%) and moderate to high resistance to ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime and cefepime were observed among GNB. Furthermore, there were high rates of multidrug resistance and of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) production phenotype among Enterobacteriaceae. Gram-positive bacteria included three Staphylococcus aureus isolates (2.7%), four oxacillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolates (3.6%) and one Streptococcus pneumoniae (0.9%). No oxacillin-resistant S. aureus was isolated. Among clinically relevant staphylococci, susceptibility to co-trimoxazole and ampicillin was low (0-25%). In addition, 58 contaminant CoNS were isolated from blood cultures, and the calculated ratio of contaminants to pathogens in blood cultures was 1:2. CONCLUSIONS: Multidrug-resistant and ESBL-producing GNB are the leading cause of BSI at BGH.