Risk Factors for COVID-19 Related Death during the First Three Waves of the Pandemic in an Epidemic Treatment Center at Dakar, Senegal

Introduction-Objective: COVID-19 is a highly transmissible but often mild viral infection. However, some patients can present severe COVID-19 and subsequently die. The aim of the present study was to assess the risk factors for COVID-19 related death during the first three waves of the disease at the Epidemic Treatment Center (ETC) of Dakar Principal Hospital (DPH). Method: We conducted a descriptive and analytical perspective survival study from April 4, 2020 to September 25, 2021, including adult patients with COVID-19, hospitalized at the ETC of DPH. Log Rank test and multivariate Cox model were performed to identify risk factors for death. Results: We included 556 COVID-19 patients with mean age of 57 ± 17 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1.26. The number of deaths during one month of follow-up was 41, representing a cumulative risk of 7.4%. The log Rank test showed that being from the third wave (p = 0.0056), advanced age (p = 0.00098), presence of at least one comorbidity (p = 0.034), High blood pressure (p = 0.024), d-dimer level ≥ 1000 IU/L (p Conclusion: Our study showed that elderly and third-wave of COVID-19 patients were more at risk to die. Knowledge of risk factors for COVID-19 related death could improve the prognosis of these patients.

Epidemiological, Clinical and Outcome Aspects of Care-Related Tetanus in Dakar, Senegal

Introduction: Tetanus portals of entry are numerous. Amongst these, the carerelated portals of entry are rarely reported. The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and outcome aspects and identify the factors associated with death from care-related tetanus. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective study of descriptive and analytical purposes. Data were collected from the medical records of patients admitted to the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department of the National University Hospital Center (CHNU) of Fann in Dakar for care-related tetanus during the period ranging from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2016. Care-related tetanus was defined as any case of tetanus occurring after a surgical procedure, including circumcisions performed even outside a health facility. Results: In eight years, 50 cases of care-related tetanus were recorded. Care-related tetanus accounted for 6.7% of hospitalized tetanus cases. The mean age of patients was 21 ± 22 years, with a male predominance (sex ratio: 6.14). The procedure had been performed in most cases, either in a health facility in 22 patients (44%) or at home in 16 patients (32%), and occurred after circumcision. In 62% of cases the portal of entry was urological, followed by orthopedic surgery (14%) and visceral surgery (10%). The procedures performed were dominated by circumcision (31 cases), limb amputation (3 cases) and inguinal hernia repair (2 cases). Tetanus was immediately generalized on admission in all patients. Eighty-four percent (84%) of patients were admitted with Mollaret stage II. Cardiovascular (11 cases), infectious (10 cases) and respiratory (9 cases) complications were the most frequent. The hospital case fatality rate was 24%. Factors associated with death were female gender (p = 0.03), age between 15 - 60 years (p = 0.02), incubation time Conclusion: Care-related tetanus remains a concern in poor income countries, particularly in Senegal. The drop of these cases will require better immunization coverage of the population. It is also appropriate to raise the awareness of health care providers and surgeons and to promote capacity building for better prevention of cases through sero-immunization of patients at risk before the procedure and rigorous asepsis.

Enterobacterial Infections Diagnosed at the Clinic of Infectious Diseases of Fann Hospital (2013-2014) Dakar, Senegal

Introduction: Entero bacteria are mainly found in the gut of man and animals. The frequent acquisition of antibiotic resistance mechanisms explains why they are the bacteria most often implicated in human infectious pathology. It is estimated to be involved in 50% of sepsis, 60% of enteritis, 70% of urinary tract infection case. Objective: To determine the prevalence of enterobacterial infections diagnosed at Fann Infectious Diseases Clinic, and describe their epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective and descriptive study, on patients hospitalized from January 2013 to December 2014, at Fann Infectious Diseases Clinic, with bacteriological confirmation of an enterobacteria infection. Results: A total of 129 cases were collected during the study period. The average age was 41 years, and female were predominant (60%) with a sex ratio of 0.67. Comorbidity was found in 88.4% of the cases, most of which were HIV infection. The most common clinical signs were infectious syndrome (53.49%) and general impairment (40.31%). The main gateway was urinary (55.8%). Samples were monomicrobial in 76.7% of cases. Klebsiella and Escherichia were the most common and 68.7% of the subjects had probabilistic treatment. Most enterobacterial strains were resistant to third generation cephalosporins (C3G), aminoglycosides to ciprofloxacin and cotrimoxazole. Aside from 4% of them, all were sensitive to imipenem. Conclusion: The advent of antibiotics has brought hope in the treatment of enterobacterial infections. However, an increase in their resistance to the usual antibiotics has been noted in recent years. As a result, the fight against antibiotic resistance must be a priority.