Etiological and Radiological Profile of Acute Lower Respiratory Infections during the Pre-COVID Period in the Paediatric Ward of the Teaching Hospital of Mali and in the Community Health Centre of Yirimadio in Bamako

Introduction: Every year, nearly 4 million people pass away from acute respiratory infections. 98% of such deaths are due to lower respiratory tract infections. Even though studies have been carried on lower respiratory infections x-ray aspects in Mali, very few studies have been done to reveal bacteriological and virological evidence of this disease. Materials and methods: It is about a descriptive prospective study carried out from January to December 2018 having involved patients of all ages, coming for medical consultation at the Yirimadio Community-based health center as well as children from 6 months to 15 years old coming at the pediatric department of UHC Hôpital du Mali for a lower respiratory infection. They had all undergone chest X-ray and a PCR. The purpose: of this work is to study etiological and x-ray aspects of acute lower respiratory infections at the Yirimadio Community-based Health Center and at the UHC pediatric department of Hôpital du Mali. Findings: From January to December 2018, we recorded a frequency of 1.19%. The age group 0 - 5 years was the most represented (64.5%) with a sex ratio of 0.97 for women. Cough was the most common clinical sign (98.7%) followed by fever (58.9%). Standard frontal chest X-ray was pathological in 70% of our patients. It was bronchitis in 75.4% of cases, pneumonia (13.5%), and bronchopneumonia (12.3%). PCR positive was in 83.9% of patients. It revealed a co-infection in more than half of the patients (52.5%), bacterial infection (16.1%) and viral infection (15.2%). Pathogens isolated ranked by frequency were Streptococcus pneumoniaa (87.6%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (24.9%) and human rhinovirus (17%). The most common viral causes were human rhinovirus (17%), followed by influenza A and B virus (7%) and human parainfluenza virus (7%). Conclusion: It stemed from the study that lower respiratory infections were mainly due to Streptococcus pneumonea and human rhinovirus during pre-COVID at the Yirimadio Community-based health center and UHC Hôpital du Mali.

Epidemioclinical Profile of Premature Infants at the Neonatology Unit of the Mali Hospital 2012-2015

Introduction: A newborn is preterm when it is born before 37 weeks of amenorrhoea. Preterm births account for 11.1% of live births worldwide, 60% of which are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and the second leading cause of mortality in children under 5 years of age. The aim of this study was to investigate prematurity in the neonatology unit of the Mali Hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study from January 2012 to December 2015 of premature newborns from 28 to 36 weeks of amenorrhea in the neonatology unit of Mali Hospital. Results: From January 2012 to December 2015, we recorded 1692 inpatient newborns, including 614 preterm newborns, a frequency of 36.29%. The sex ratio was 1.43 in favor of boys. The average age of the mothers was 23.9 years with a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 47 years. The majority were housewives (92.7%). The pregnancy was poorly monitored in 51.8% of the mothers. The average gestational age was 32.9 days with extremes of 25 and 36 days. The most frequent mode of delivery was vaginal delivery (93.2%), with late prematurity in 51.5%, moderate prematurity (24.4%), extreme prematurity (18.7%) and very premature (5.4%). The mean birth weight was 1464 g with a standard deviation of 485 g and 2751 g. Prematurity was associated with neonatal infection in 49.4% of newborns, perinatal anoxia (13.9%) and hypotrophy (2.6%). The most frequent maternal risk factors were fever (83.4%), twinship (38.9%) and high blood pressure (8.6%). The average length of hospitalization was 9.75 days with extremes of 0 and 68 days. We recorded a cure rate of 57.7%, a death rate of 35.7% and a dropout rate of 6.7%. Conclusion: Prematurity is frequent in the neonatology unit of the Mali Hospital. We observed a high frequency among women of extreme age and low socio-economic and educational level. In our study we also noted a high mortality rate proportional to gestational age.