[Serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 in a health workers population in Nouakchott-Mauritania]. / Dépistage sérologique de SARS-CoV-2 chez une population de personnel de santé à Nouakchott-Mauritanie.

The first outbreak of epidemic respiratory disease due to unknown etiology was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) firstly used the term "new coronavirus 2019" on December 29, 2019. This pandemic, which is currently called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It was subsequently called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the WHO. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in all employees of the Nouakchott National Hospital Center (CHN). The study was conducted during the week 20/05/2020 to 27/05/2020. It involved 853 employees of all ranks (doctors, pharmacists, nurses, secretaries, security personnel, administrators...) of whom 504 were male and 331 were female, with a sex ratio of 1,52 with an average age of 39 years, ranging from 20 to 60 years. The screening for IgG and IgM antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was performed using Biotime (Xiamen Biotime Biotechnology Co., Ltd.) immunochromatographic technique. Out of 835 employees included in our study, 14 were positive (1.67%) of whom 12 had IgM and IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and 2 had isolated IgM. Nasopharyngeal swab polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed in these 14 patients and was positive in six. While PCR is the gold standard for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, in particular rapid tests (RDTs) are a diagnostic complement to COVID-19. They have the advantage of being easy to realize, of being safe both in the laboratories and outside the laboratories. RDTs enabled us to detect asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers within CHN employees. This allowed for patients management and isolation to protect patients and their environments.

[Surgical treatment of intracranial meningiomas in Nouakchott, Mauritania]. / Prise en charge chirurgicale des méningiomes intracrâniens à Nouakchott, Mauritanie.

Meningiomas are frequently encountered tumours in neurosurgery. However, there is a paucity of data concerning their epidemiology, their clinical characteristics and their treatment compared to gliomas. This study aims to identify the epidemiological profile and to assess the quality of treatment of intracranial meningiomas (ICM) at the National Hospital Center in Nouakchott, Mauritania. We conducted a retrospective study of patients who had undergone surgery for the treatment of ICM between September 2013 and September 2016. Thirty-two patients had undergone surgery for the treatment of ICM (26.6%). The average age was 45.12 (± 13.8 years) among whom 75% were women. The average length of stay in hospital had been 13 days (± 7 days). The mean time between symptom onset and diagnosis had been 10 months (±5months). The mean size of ICM had been 5.07cm (±2.00cm) ranging from 2.5cm to 10.5cm. Complementary MRI had been performed in 46.8% of patients after brain CT scan. In our series, 38% of ICM had grown on brain convexity. The mean surgical time had been 23.91 days (±17days). The quality grade of surgical resection assigned according to Simpson score was Grade I (66%), Grade II (19%), Grade III (6%), Grade IV (9%). The histological grade assigned according to the 2007 WHO classification was Grade I (93%), Grade II-III (7%). The overall operative mortality was (n=3, 9.4%). The development of technical equipment in the department of neurosurgery, radiology and of equipment in anesthesia and intensive care will contribute to improve outcomes and to reduce mortality rates.