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Patients with cancer are presumed to be vulnerable to an increased risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and severe clinical outcomes due to the immunocompromised state mediated by their underlying malignancies and therapy. The aim of this study was to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence, following second to fourth waves in solid tumour patients attending the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We used the single-prick COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassettes to detect SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies in 760 patients with solid tumours who were asymptomatic and who had never tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Out of the 760 patients, 277 were male (36.4%), 483 were female (63.6%), and the mean age was 55 years (range 18−92). The estimated total seroprevalence was 33.2%. The seroprevalence status of the COVID-19 IgG/IgM antibodies rose significantly from the second wave (11.3%) to the third (67.38%) and then the fourth (69.81%) waves with roughly similar counts. A significant number of the seropositive patients were asymptomatic to COVID-19 (96%). There was a higher rate of seropositivity in cancer patients with hypertension (p < 0.05). Patients with breast, gynaecologic, and prostate cancers exhibited increased SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. Although oncology patients may be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, our data indicate that these patients remained asymptomatic throughout various waves with an overall COVID-19 IgG/IgM antibody seropositivity of 33.16%, suggesting no risk of severe or fatal cases of COVID-19.

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to evaluate drug dispensing practices in private pharmacies in the city of N'Djamena and, specifically, (I) to describe the characteristics of dispensaries, (ii) describe dispensing practices and (iii) assess regulatory compliance when dispensing on the basis of a prescription and an advice., Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional survey from June to December 2020. Data were collected in two stages, through interviews with pharmacists and participant observation in drug delivery practices in pharmacies., Results: in total, 26 pharmacies, or 50% of pharmacies in N'Djamena, were surveyed. The main survey findings were: private pharmacies in the city of N'Djamena employed two categories of staff, namely pharmacists and auxiliary staff (pharmacy technicians, nurses and salespeople or staff with "no health qualifications". These had not been trained in a health school recognised by the Ministry of Health) to dispense medicines. Very few pharmacies (8%) had a customer confidentiality area and a order book. The three modes of delivery were observed in more or less equal proportions (30 to 40% of dispensations). Dispensing at the patient's request was slightly predominant (40%) and the majority of medicines dispensed at the patient's request and based on dispenser's advice belonged to the different tables of toxic substances (over 70%). The noted absence of the pharmacist from the pharmacy justified why 84% of patients' requests were addressed to the pharmacy assistants., Conclusion: this study shows low compliance of pharmacies with pharmaceutical regulations for proper dispensing of medicines in the city of N'Djamena. Factors related to pharmaceutical sector governance and human resources management as well as therapeutic patient education could explain this gap., Competing Interests: Les auteurs ne déclarent aucun conflit d'intérêts., (Copyright: Levy Ouribe Gueralbaye et al.)

The severe acute respiratory syndrome due to the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has severely tested the global health response capacity, with predictions of a fatality for developing countries. To evaluate the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV- 2 antibodies in People Living with HIV (PLHIV) with no COVID-19 symptoms in Burkina Faso. Seroprevalence was estimated by performing a qualitative screening test for SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulins. The STANDARD TM Q COVID-19 IgM/IgG Combo Test kit from SD BIOSENSOR was used. Parameters like HIV plasma viral load, CD4 T cell count and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) expression were estimated. This study enrolled a total of 200 PLHIV aged 4-87 years who are asymptomatic for COVID-19. There were 36 (18%) positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and/or IgG of which three (1.50%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and 33 (16.50%) for IgG. Among participants diagnosed as IgM positive, 66.67% (2/3) had the highest HIV viral loads with the lowest CD4 T cell counts (p<0.0001). The expression of CRP was relatively higher in COVID-19 IgG positive individuals (7.95±12.5 mg/L) than negative individuals (6.26±6.92 mg/L; p=0.37). The rate of IgG and IgM SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin carriage (18%), accompanied by a relatively high CRP levels, was revealed in this study among PLHIV. This serologic evidence and mild inflammation suggest that Burkina Faso escaped the worst, not necessarily because there were not many SARS-CoV-2 infections in its population, but because factors including genetic and environmental, might have resulted in many asymptomatic carriers., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©Copyright: the Author(s).)

Novel valorization routes for tannins were opened by the development of a simple, straightforward, robust, and flexible approach to the selective functionalization of condensed and hydrolyzable tannins. Irrespective of the different degrees of polymerization, different commercial tannins were efficiently functionalized by the generation of an ether linkage bound to a short linker carrying the desired functional group. Functionalizations could be realized at varying degrees of technical loadings, i.e., amounts of introduced tannin-alien functionalities per number of phenolic hydroxyl groups. The same strategy was found suitable for the synthesis of polyethylene glycol-functionalized tannin copolymers. Condensed tannins functionalized with carboxylic acid moieties could be converted into a tannin-oligopeptide hybrid., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Microcapsules of sulfited Acacia mearnsii tannin ( Am ST-MCs) were generated for the first time via the sonochemical method. Their stability profile was assessed and set in the general context of tannin microcapsules (TMCs) generated under the same experimental conditions. The analytical data gathered in this work indicate an excellent stability of TMCs over time as well as under high temperature and pressure, which is a major milestone toward the meaningful applications of TMCs in industrial, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications in which sterilization of TMCs might be a prerequisite. Active release is shown to be efficiently triggered by varying pH and/or salinity, with different profiles for TMCs from sulfited and nonsulfited species. Surfactants also affect the stability of TMCs significantly, with effects eventually amplifiable by pH and the inherent kosmotropic and chaotropic characteristics of salt components in solutions., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Stimuli-responsive behavior of lignin microcapsules (LMCs) has been investigated along with the detailed characterization of their stability profiles. The disassembly of LMCs was found to be salt species-dependent, indicating the specific relevance of inherent kosmotropic and chaotropic characteristics. For the first time, a connection between the Hofmeister series and the stability profile of lignin microscale materials is established. LMCs showed excellent stability in water and under high temperature and pressure (autoclaving conditions). Active release is efficiently triggered by pH changes and balancing chaotropic and kosmotropic effects via salinity tuning., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.