Chronic renal failure: perception and knowledge of patients at the terminal stage in Brazzaville

Introduction. Chronic kidney disease (CKD)is a long-term condition in which the kidneys gradually lose their function over time, becomes impaired, leading to a buildup of waste and toxins in the body. This aimed at at evaluating the perception of CKDamong newly diagnosed end-stage chronic renal failure patients. Methodology. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with prospective data collection, which took place over the period from January 1 to , in the Nephrology department of the Brazzaville university hospital. It covered 128 patients who were exhaustively identified. sociodemographic data and data on illness perception were collected from medical records and during individual interviews using pre-established survey forms. Microsoft Excel 2021 software enabled data analysis and processing. Results. We studied 128participants with a sex ratio of 2.5 and the age was was 50. There was a misperception of CKDamong46.1% of our participants. CKD was thought in curableby 51,6% of them and it was considered a fairly worrying disease by 61.7% of patients. The belief of CKD having a supernatural cause was held by 46.9% of patients. Patients thought that CKD could be treated with traditional medicine (36,7%), modern medicine (27,3%) and through prayer(18%). CKD was unknown before hospitalization by 76,6% of patients. Conclusion. There is a wrong perception of chronic kidney failure by patients in the end stage of their kidney disease due to the general public's low level of knowledge about kidney diseases

Introduction.La maladie rénale chronique (MRC) est une affection à long terme au cours de laquelle les reins perdent progressivement leur fonction au fil du temps, deviennent altérés, ce qui entraîne une accumulation de déchets et de toxines dans le corps. Cette étudevisait à évaluer la perception de la MRC chez les patients atteints d'insuffisance rénale chronique au stade terminal récemment diagnostiqués. Méthodologie.Il s'agissait d'une étude descriptive transversale avec une collecte prospective des données, qui s'est déroulée du 1er janvier au 30 octobre 2023, au service de néphrologie de l'hôpital universitaire de Brazzaville. Elle concernait 128 patients qui ont été identifiés de manière exhaustive. Les données sociodémographiques et les données sur la perception de la maladie ont été collectées à partir des dossiers médicaux et lors d'entretiens individuels à l'aide de formulaires d'enquête préétablis. Le logiciel Microsoft Excel 2021 a permis l'analyse et le traitement des données. Résultats.Nous avons étudié128 participants, avec un ratio homme-femme de 2,5 et un âge médian de 50 ans. Il y avait une méconnaissance de la MRC chez 46,1% de nos participants. 51,6% d'entre eux pensaient que la MRC était incurable et 61,7% des patients considéraient cette maladiecomme assez inquiétante. 46,9% des patients pensaient que la MRC avait une cause surnaturelle. Les patients pensaient que la MRC pouvait être traitée avec la médecine traditionnelle (36,7%), la médecine moderne (27,3%) et par la prière (18%). La MRC étaitméconnue avant l'hospitalisation chez 76,6% des patients. Conclusion.Il existe une perception erronée de l'insuffisance rénale chronique chez les patients en stade terminal de leur maladie rénaledû à la faible connaissance du grand public sur les maladies rénales.

Chronic renal failure in the brazzaville university hospital center: Epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary aspects.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global public health problem today. In Congo, we have very little epidemiological data. Our goal is to describe the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic, and progressive aspects of IRC in Brazzaville. We carried out a retrospective and descriptive study on patients with chronic renal failure, hospitalized in the nephrology and dialysis department of the Brazzaville teaching hospital from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2018. The data were established from patient medical records. The statistical analysis was done with the Epi info software. During our study, 953 patients were hospitalized in nephrology, of which 497 (52.1%) presented with CKD, only 407 files were usable (42.7%). Their average age was 51.8 ± 15.2 years; with a male predominance of 59.1%. The first three causal nephropathies are diabetes mellitus (23.3%), high blood pressure (21.8%), and chronic nondiabetic glomerulonephritis (15.5%). In 22.3% of cases, the causative nephropathy remained undetermined. CKD was declared terminal in 295 patients (74, 2%); 73 (19.8%) of whom were able to access dialysis. Erythropetine (EPO) was indicated in 316 patients (77%), only 8.4% received it. The mortality rate was 49.9%. Our study reveals the major health issue of IRC in the Congo. The intervention of all the actors of national public health is necessary to face this scourge, which makes us ask for help from all international and national donors.

Higher levels of hepatitis C virus RNA found in blood donors co-infected with HIV as compared to HCV mono-infected donors.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are public health problems in sub-Saharan countries such as the Republic of Congo. HIV infection could impact the characteristics of HCV infection in co-infected people. We investigated HCV-HIV co-infection among blood donors in Congo. METHODOLOGY: Ninety-nine HIV-positive and/or HCV-seropositive blood donors were selected during screening and subsequently tested for aminotransferases and HCV RNA. RESULTS: A total of 29 donors were found positive for HCV RNA (HCV-infected individuals), including 19/60 (31.66%) HIV donors (co-infected) and 10/39 (25.64%) non-HIV donors (mono-infected). Most of the co-infected donors (17/19) displayed a high viral load (> 5 log). The median HCV RNA level was at least 2 logs higher in co-infected people. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were also slightly higher in co-infected donors than in HCV mono-infected donors. CONCLUSION: This study reports HCV-HIV co-infection among blood donors in Congo and shows that HCV viral load is higher in HIV donors.