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Background: Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder of hemoglobin. It poses a public health problem in Senegal and mainly affects children and adolescents. Infections are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in children with sickle cell disease. The objective of our work was to assess infections associated with major sickle cell syndromes at the Ziguinchor Peace Hospital (ZPH). Methods: This was a retrospective study, from October 1, 2015 to October 31, 2020. Included were sickle cell patients homozygous SS and heterozygous SC, hospitalized with fever ≥ 39°C, in whom an infectious assessment was performed. Excluded from the study were patients whose complete blood count, C-Reactive Protein, and rapid diagnostic test for malaria were not performed. Results: During the study period, we collected 66 patient files (43 boys and 23 girls). The mean age was 7.6 years [8 months – 21 years]. The population consisted of SS sickle cell disease patients in 98.5% of cases. The average body temperature was 39.6°C [39 – 40.5°C]. The clinical picture on admission was predominantly vaso-occlusive crisis and anemia. The positivity of the bacteriological examinations was 2 cases for the blood culture, 3 cases for the urine culture. The infections were dominated by bronchopneumonia (31.8%); ear, nose and throat infections (31.8%) and osteoarthritis (15.2%). Four children presented with severe malaria and the immediate course was favorable for all patients. Conclusion: otorhinolaryngological infections; Bronchopulmonary and osteoarticular diseases are frequent in children with sickle cell disease at the Ziguinchor peace hospital. we recommend support for the microbiology unit and systematic sampling in febrile sickle cell patients.

Introduction: Febrile seizures are seizures associated with fever in children. They represent a frequent reason for consultation in pediatric emergencies. Febrile convulsions are often qualified as benign pathologies but they are a source of concern, explaining the number of tolls imposed on these children. The aim of the study was to report the practice to a hospital in Senegal. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of children's records, from January 1, 2015 to January 31, 2020. Were included, patients aged less than or equal to 5 years, hospitalized in the pediatric department of the Ziguinchor Peace Hospital, for a febrile convulsion. Newborns and children with psychomotor development abnormalities were excluded. We have studied the clinical and etiological data. Results: We collected 85 (51 boys, 34 girls) cases of febrile convulsions, ie a hospital frequency of 10,6%. The mean age of the patients was 23,6 months, peaking in infants 12 to 18 months. The mean temperature was 38,8° C and the seizure was tonic-clonic in 64,7%. We noted 57 cases of simple febrile convulsions (67,1%) and 28 cases of complicated febrile convulsions (32,9%). The etiology of fever was dominated by otorhinolaryngologic infections (42,4%); malaria (18,8%) and bronchopulmonary infections (08,2%). The average length of hospital stay was 02,8 days. We deplored two deaths (02,4%). Conclusion: Febrile convulsions are common in children under 5 years old. They are secondary to respiratory tract infections and malaria.

Malnutrition is a global health problem. It is very common in developing countries where it contributes to an increase in morbidity and mortality, especially among children under five years of age. The main objective of this study was to describe the management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children six months to five years of age hospitalized at Diamniadio Children’s Hospital (DCH). This was an epidemiological, retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study of children aged six to 59 months hospitalized at DCH for SAM. The study took place over a 12-month period (from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018). During the study period, 67 children were admitted for SAM, representing a hospital prevalence of 8.4%. The majority (88%) children were less than 24 months old. Reasons for consultations were dominated by diarrhea (57.5%) vomiting (38.8%). Complications related to SAM were mainly: anaemia (74.6%), infections (85%) and severe acute dehydration (40.3%). Factors associated with SAM were young age (infants under 24 months of age), poverty, the first four children of a sibling, poor behaviour of food diversification. The average length of hospitalization was 12 days. The nutritional recovery rate was 73.1% and lethality was 3%. Conclusion: The prevention of malnutrition must involve the fight against poverty, an optimal and well-diversified diet, monitoring the nutritional status of children up to five years of age.

Aims: To firstly determine the incidence of acute renal failure (ARF) related to malaria in a series of 11 cases among admitted patients at the pediatric hospitals in Dakar, Senegal and to lastly measure the performance of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy in malaria diagnosis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a gold standard. Study Design: A bi-centric and descriptive study was carried out. Place and Duration of Study: From June 2018 to January 2019 in two university hospitals of Dakar, Senegal: Aristide Le Dantec university hospital and Albert Royer university hospital. Methodology: Pediatric patients aged under 18 years with confirmed malaria by RDT or microscopy and ARF defined by anuria or oligo-anuria and a decrease in glomerular filtration rate were included. Nested PCR was performed to confirm malaria diagnosis and Plasmodium species typing. Results: In total, 11 ARF cases (8.5%) related to malaria among 130 children infected with malaria parasites were included out of 4,474 hospitalized. Affected children were aged between 2 and 16 years with a mean age of 11 years and a sex ratio of 0.57. For malaria diagnosis, RDTs were positive for all patients while microscopy only revealed 6 cases (54.5%) as well as PCR. However, microscopy and PCR presented two discrepancies. Considering PCR as the gold standard tool, RDT showed a relative high sensitivity (100%) and zero specificity with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 54.6% while microscopy respectively showed a sensitivity and a specificity of 66.7 and 60%. Conclusion: This study showed the relatedness between ARF and P. falciparum malaria. Even though microscopy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria but microscopists must be regularly trained. In addition, RDT should always be confirmed by microscopy and preferably by PCR.

The World Health Organization declared that corona virus diseases-19 (COVID-19) is a public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic is more likely to cause disaster in developing area including West Africa due to limited medical resources. COVID-19 reportedly causes severer conditions in adults with advanced age and in patients with underlying comorbidities including sickle cell anemia. We recently experienced two pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SS), who had COVID-19. We here highlight the difficulties of management and the severity of COVID-19 infection in children with homozygous sickle cell SS.

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive diseases characterized by enzymatic deficiencies in the biosynthesis of adrenal steroids. The most common 21-hydroxylase deficiency is characterized by a cortisol deficiency and an excess of androgens, with or without aldosterone deficiency. In our countries, in the absence of neonatal screening, the diagnosis is most often late leading to life-threatening complications. The aim of this study was to describe the diagnostic features of CAH at the Albert Royer National Children’s Hospital (ARNCH) in Dakar. Patients and method: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive study carried out at the pediatric endocrinology department of ARNCH from 2015 to 2019. All children aged under 15 with a form of CAH were included. Socio-demographic data, family history, clinical and biochemical data at presentation were collected. Patients were noted as presenting with Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD) with dehydration, DSD without dehydration, dehydration without DSD, precocious puberty. The Prader’s scale was used to determine the degree of external virilization. These data were entered and analyzed with Epi Info version 7.2. Results: A total of 32 patients were included, representing 74.41% of the causes of disorder of sexual development (DSD) and 84.21% of the causes of adrenal insufficiency. These were 27 girls (84.37%) and 5 boys (15.63%). The mean age was 19 ± 34.6 months. DSD was the main finding (87.5%). It was associated with dehydration in 22 cases (68.75%). 21-hydroxylase deficiency represented 93.75% of the cases with salt wasting in 73.33% of the cases. Conclusion: The diagnosis of CAH was delayed leading to life-threatening adrenal crises. In the absence of neonatal screening for CAH in Senegal, there is a need to train healthcare workers to recognize neonates with DSD early and refer them timeously for specialist care.

L´épilepsie pose un problème de santé publique au Sénégal. L´objectif de l´étude était de décrire les aspects cliniques et paracliniques de l´épilepsie de l´enfant à l´Hôpital de la Paix de Ziguinchor (HPZ). Il s´agissait d´une étude documentaire de dossiers d´enfants épileptiques, du 1erjanvier 2015 au 31 décembre 2018. Ont été inclus, les patients âgés ≤ de 15 ans, suivis pour épilepsie à l´HPZ. Etaient exclus, les dossiers incomplets. Cinquante-cinq (37 garçons et 18 filles) enfants ont été colligés; 70,9% avaient un âge < à 5 ans. L´âge moyen était de 4,3 ans. Les patients étaient originaires du milieu rural (60%) et de famille défavorisée (67,3%). Les crises d´épilepsie étaient généralisées (72,7%) et focales (27,3%). Dix-huit patients présentaient une épilepsie idiopathique, 17 une épilepsie non idiopathique. Les facteurs étiologiques étaient dominés par les anomalies de la grossesse et de l´accouchement (29,1%). L´épilepsie est fréquente à l´HPZ. Elle prédomine en milieu rural chez les garçons de moins de 5 ans, issus de famille défavorisée. Les crises généralisées tonico-cloniques et les crises focales sont les tableaux cliniques les plus fréquentes et les anomalies de la grossesse et de l´accouchement sont les étiologies les plus retrouvées.

La communication interauriculaire (CIA) constitue la seconde cardiopathie congénitale la plus importante chez l'enfant, elle représente 6 à 8% des malformations congénitales cardiaques de l'enfant. Toutefois, de nombreuses questions demeurent ouvertes concernant cette pathologie. Ainsi notre objectif était de rapporter la prévalence hospitalière des CIA mais surtout d'en décrire les aspects cliniques, paracliniques et thérapeutiques. Pour y parvenir nous avons réalisé une étude rétrospective descriptive. Les données ont été recueillies grâce à un questionnaire puis saisies et analysées sur Sphinx (V5). La prévalence hospitalière était de 2 pour 1000. L'âge moyen était de 37mois et le sex-ratio de 0,75. Il n'y a eu aucun cas diagnostiqué en anténatal. Une consanguinité parentale était retrouvée dans 30% des cas. Les infections respiratoires étaient présentes dans 24% des cas. Une cardiomégalie était retrouvée dans 35 cas avec une hyper vascularisation pour 63%. L'échographie notait une prédominance du type ostium secundum; la CIA était large dans 63% des cas. La sténose pulmonaire représentait l'atteinte cardiaque associée la plus importante. L'HTAP était présente dans 63% des cas. Les diurétiques étaient très utilisés et seuls 7 enfants avaient bénéficié d'une cure chirurgicale. L'évolution était favorable chez 39 patients soit 79%. Le diagnostic précoce des CIA doit être amélioré ainsi que la prise en charge chirurgicale des formes avec retentissement du nourrisson.

Introduction: Despite much progress, purulent childhood meningitis (PCM) remains a public health problem. The objective of this work was to determine the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary profile of purulent meningitis in children. Methods: Based on retrospective work carried out over a 4-year period (01 January 2014 to 31 December 2017), we studied the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of cases of purulent meningitis hospitalized in the pediatric ward of the Children's Hospital of Diamniadio. Included were all children from 29 days to 15 years of age in whom the diagnosis of purulent meningitis was confirmed by the laboratory. Results: The hospital frequency was 1.9%. The mean age of the patients was 41.0 months. Among the affected children, 68.6% were fully vaccinated. The main germ was Neisseria meningitidis W135 (58.8%). Third generation cephalosporins were the antibiotics of choice (97.1%). No resistance was found to them. The cure rate with sequelae was 5.7%. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the germ responsible for 50% of the objective sequelae. The mortality rate was 7.1%. Conclusion: Neisseria meningitidis W135 is the main germ of purulent meningitis in our study. It is not included in the national routine immunization. It is imperative to adapt vaccination to the epidemiological fluctuation of pathogens in our regions.

La drépanocytose pose un problème de santé publique au Sénégal. Elle concerne principalement les enfants et les adolescents. L'objectif de notre travail était de déterminer les profils épidémiologiques, cliniques et hématologiques de la drépanocytose homozygote SS dans une cohorte d'enfants suivis à l'hôpital de la paix de Ziguinchor. Il s'agit d'une étude rétrospective portant sur des dossiers d'enfants drépanocytaires. Etaient inclus, les drépanocytaires SS âgés entre 2mois et 21ans, reçus en phase inter critique durant la période d'étude allant du 1er Janvier 2015 au 31 Août 2017. N'étaient pas inclus dans l'étude les hétérozygotes composites (SC, S béta thalassémie). Nous avons colligé 46 dossiers de drépanocytaires SS (20 filles et 26 garçons). L'âge moyen des enfants était de 8,0ans [11mois-21ans]. Environ 1/3 des enfants (39,1%) avaient un âge inférieur ou égal à 5 ans. Il y avait une diversité ethnique avec une prédominance de diola (30,2%) suivi de mandingue (27,9%) et de poular (25,6%). L'âge moyen des enfants à la 1ére crise était de 35,5mois [7-192 mois]. Plus de 1/3 des enfants (41,3%) avaient fait une 1ére crise avant le deuxième anniversaire. Le type de la 1ére crise, qu'avait présenté l'enfant, était dominé par la crise vaso-occlusive (32,6%) suivi du syndrome pied-main (30,4%). Les signes cliniques en phase inter critique étaient la pâleur 95,6%); l'ictère (36,9%) et la splénomégalie (21,7%). A l'hémogramme, le nombre de globules blancs moyen était de 12465 leucocytes/mm3 [5340-26900]. L'hyperleucocytose, supérieure à 10 000 leucocytes/mm3 était retrouvée chez 34 malades (73,9%). La totalité des malades présentait une anémie avec une moyenne 08,6 g/dl [05,7-11,8]. Le taux d'hémoglobine S variait entre 54,6 et 98,4%. Le diagnostic et la prise en charge médicale de la drépanocytose SS sont tardifs à Ziguinchor. Le dépistage néonatal pourrait favoriser une prise en charge précoce dans la région.Mots clés: Drépanocytose SS, phase inter critique, enfantEnglish Title: Epidemiological, clinical and hematological profiles of homozygous sickle cell disease during the intercritical period among children in Ziguinchor, SenegalEnglish AbstractSickle cell disease poses a public health problem in Senegal. It mainly affects children and adolescents. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological, clinical and hematological profiles of homozygous (SS) sickle cell disease in a cohort of children followed-up at the Peace Hospital in Ziguinchor. We conducted a retrospective study of the medical records from children with sickle cell disease. All patients aged between 2 months and 21 years with sickle cell disease SS during the intercritical period, hospitalized during the study period from 1st January 2015 to 31 August 2017 were included in our study. Compound heterozygous patients (SC, S Beta Thalassemia) were not included. We collected 46 medical records of patients with sickle cell disease SS (20 girls and 26 boys). The average age of children was 8,0 years [11 months-21 years]. Approximately 1/3 of children (39.1%) had an age less than or equal to 5 years. There was an ethnic diversity showing a predominance of the Diola (30.2%) followed by the Mandinga (27.9%) and the Poular (25.6%). The average age of children with first crisis was 35,5 months [7-192 months]. More than 1/3 of children (41.3%) had had first crisis before their second anniversary. In the child, first crisis was dominated by vaso-occlusive crisis (32.6%) followed by hand-foot syndrome (30.4%). Clinical signs during the intercritical period were pallor 95.6%), jaundice (36.9%) and splenomegaly (21.7%). Mean white blood cell count was 12465 leucocytes/mm3 [5340-26900]. Hyperleukocytosis greater than 10 000 leucocytes/mm3 was found in 34 patients (73.9%). All patients had anemia with an average hemoglobin of 08,6 g/dl [05,7-11,8]. Hemoglobin S rate ranged between 54.6 and 98.4%. Diagnosis and medical management of sickle cell disease SS are delayed in Ziguinchor. Neonatal screening may lead to improve early management of patients in the region.Keywords: Sickle cell diasease SS, intercritical period, child

Introduction: Malnutrition is a public health problem in the world and especially in developing countries. The prevalence of malnutrition at the national level does not reflect the situation in hospital. It is in this context that we assessed the nutritional status of children under 5 years old hospitalized pediatric services in the municipality of Ziguinchor. Material and methods: This was a prospective study that ran from June 1 to October 30, 2016. Included were children aged 2 to 60 months hospitalized in one of the two services. Children with esdato-ascetic syndrome were not included. Epidemiological, anthropometric data, and associated diagnosis were studied. Results: We included 114 children (70 boys and 44 girls). The average age was 21.9 months. Forty-two point one percent (42.1%) of infants

L’holoprosencéphalie (HPE) est une malformation cérébrale grave due à un défaut de clivage médian du prosencéphale. C’est une anomalie le plus souvent associée à des malformations cranio-faciales, d’un retard du développement psychomoteur, d’un diabète insipide et de troubles endocriniens variables. Les étiologies sont diverses regroupant les anomalies chromosomiques (trisomie 13, 18), les syndromes polymalformatifs (syndrome de CHARGE). Le diagnostic repose sur l’imagerie cérébrale. Quelques rares cas ont été décrits dans la littérature. Nous rapportons le cas d’une HPE alobaire chez un nourrisson de 10 mois. Le diagnostic a été posé au scanner cérébral devant la constatation d’un retard du développement psychomoteur en l’absence de malformations visibles. Le bilan endocrinien a permis de déceler un diabète insipide central et une hypothyroïdie centrale probablement d’origine hypothalamique.Mots clés: Holoprosencéphalie alobaire, nourrisson, diabète insipide, hypothyroïdie centraleEnglish Title: Alobar holoprosencephaly associated with diabetes insipidus and hypothyroidism in a 10-month old infantEnglish AbstractHoloprosencephaly (HPE) is a serious brain malformation due to a failure of medial forebrain cleavage. This is an abnormality which is more often associated with craniofacial malformations, psychomotor development delay, diabetes insipidus and variable endocrine disorders. It is due to different causes including chromosomal abnormalities (trisomy 13, 18)and polymalformative syndromes (CHARGE Syndrome). Diagnosis is based on brain imaging. A few rare cases have been described in the literature. We here report the case of alobar HPE in a 10-month old infant. Diagnosis was based on cerebral CT scan performed due to delayed psychomotor development and in the absence of visible malformations. Endocrine assessment allowed to detect central diabetes insipidus and central hypothyroidism, probably of hypothalamic origin.Keywords: Alobar holoprosencephaly, infant, diabetes insipidus, central hypothyroidism

L’hypothyroïdie de l’enfant é été peu étudiée au Sénégal. Le but de cette étude était d’évaluer les aspects épidémiologiques, diagnostiques et évolutifs de l’hypothyroïdie congénitale. Il s’agissait d’une étude rétrospective descriptive et analytique portant sur tous les enfants suivis pour hypothyroïdie congénitale au Centre Hospitalier National d’Enfants Albert Royer sur la période de 2001 à 2014 (14 ans). A partir des dossiers des malades, nous avons recueilli et analysé les données sociodémographiques, cliniques et évolutives. Au total, 28 patients ont été inclus, soit une moyenne de 2 cas par an. L’âge moyen de découverte de l’hypothyroïdie était de 54,25 ± 43 mois avec une prédominance féminine (Sex- ratio 0,47). Seuls 2 cas d’hypothyroïdie ont été diagnostiqués dans la période néonatale. La consanguinité était présente chez 68% des patients. Les signes cliniques étaient dominés par le retard des acquisitions psychomotrices (96%), l’hypothermie (46%), la dysmorphie cranio-faciale (43%) et le goitre (39%). Le retard statural était constant au-delà de 6 mois. Les étiologies étaient dominées par les troubles de l’hormonosynthèse (84,21%). Dans l’évolution, la taille moyenne des patients était passée de -3,5 DS à -2,25 DS pour une durée de traitement moyenne de 28 mois. La débilité mentale était présente dans 73% des cas. Le retard de croissance et la débilité mentale étaient d’autant plus sévères que le diagnostic était tardif. Nos résultats confirment l’insuffisance d’une prise en charge précoce des patients. Il urge de mettre en place un système de dépistage néonatale systématique, afin d’améliorer le pronostic mental de cette affection. The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;25

Le syndrome hémolytique et urémique (SHU) est une cause fréquente d’insuffisance rénale aiguë (IRA) organique chez l’enfant. C’est une complication évolutive des gastroentérites aiguës (GEA) en particulier à Escherichia coli de l’enfant. Notre objectif était de décrire les aspects cliniques, thérapeutiques et évolutifs de cette affection chez quatre enfants. Nous avions colligé quatre cas de SHU. L’âge moyen était de 10,5 mois (5-15mois) exclusivement des garçons. L’examen clinique retrouvait une anémie de type hémolytique (pâleur et ictére), un syndrome oedémateux avec oligo-anurie (2 cas), une hypertension artérielle (1 patient), une GEA avec déshydratation sévère et choc hypovolémique (2 patients), des troubles de conscience. L’IRA était notée chez tous les patients de même que la thrombopénie et les schizocytes au frottis. Le Coombs direct était négatif. Il y avait une hyperkaliémie (3patients) dont 1 patient supérieure à 9,2 mmol/l, une hyponatrémie à 129mmol/l(1 patient) et une hypernatrémie à 153mmol/l (1 patient). Le shu était secondaire à une pneumonie à pneumocoque (1 patient), une GEA à E. coli (1 patient). Le traitement était essentiellement symptomatique et comprenait la restriction hydrique, la transfusion de concentrés érythrocytaires, les diurétiques, la dialyse péritonéale et l’hémodialyse. L’évolution était marquée par la survenue d’une insuffisance rénale chronique (1 patient) après 6 mois de suivi et la guérison (1 cas). Nous avions noté 3décés.Le SHU est la cause la plus fréquente d’IRA organique du nourrisson. Le diagnostic est essentiellement biologique, le traitement est surtout symptomatique. The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;24

Introduction: Malnutrition is a public health problem in developing countries. The prevalence of malnutrition at the national level hardly reflects the reality in hospitals. It is in this context that we assessed the nutritional status of children from 2 months to 5 years hospitalized in the pediatric ward of the regional hospital and the Ziguinchor Peace Hospital. Materials and methods: This was a prospective study from June 1 to October 30, 2016. Children aged 2 to 60 months, hospitalized in one of the two services, were included. Children with esdato-ascetic syndrome were not included. Epidemiological, anthropometric data, and associated diagnosis were studied. Results: We included 114 children (70 boys and 44 girls). The average age was 21.9 months [4-59]. Forty-two point one percent (42.1%) of infants