The metabolomic profile of vaso-occlusive crisis, compared to the basal state of sickle cell disease, has never been reported to our knowledge. Using a standardized targeted metabolomic approach, performed on plasma and erythrocyte fractions, we compared these two states of the disease in the same group of 40 patients. Among the 188 metabolites analyzed, 153 were accurately measured in plasma and 143 in red blood cells. Supervised paired partial least squares discriminant analysis (pPLS-DA) showed good predictive performance for test sets with median area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves of 99% and mean p-values of 0.0005 and 0.0002 in plasma and erythrocytes, respectively. A total of 63 metabolites allowed discrimination between the two groups in the plasma, whereas 61 allowed discrimination in the erythrocytes. Overall, this signature points to altered arginine and nitric oxide metabolism, pain pathophysiology, hypoxia and energetic crisis, and membrane remodeling of red blood cells. It also revealed the alteration of metabolite concentrations that had not been previously associated with sickle cell disease. Our results demonstrate that the vaso-occlusive crisis has a specific metabolomic signature, distinct from that observed at steady state, which may be potentially helpful for finding predictive biomarkers for this acute life-threatening episode.

The high frequency of bacterial infections represents a major threat to public health. In developing countries, they are still responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric populations with sickle cell disease, particularly in children under 5 years of age. Indeed, they have an increased susceptibility to bacterial infections due to their immune deficiency. This susceptibility is even greater for pneumococcal and salmonella infections. In addition, the underdevelopment of some countries and socio-economic factors increases this condition. This review examines the common and specific factors leading to infections in people with sickle cell disease in different types of developed and undeveloped countries. The threat of bacterial infections, particularly those caused by S. pneumoniae and Salmonella, is of increasing concern due to the rise in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. In light of this disturbing data, new strategies to control and prevent these infections are needed. Solutions could be systematic penicillin therapy, vaccinations, and probabilistic antibiotic therapy protocols.

Mpox is a zoonosis caused by the monkeypox virus. Here, we report Mali’s index Mpox case, which was clinically identified at the Mali–Guinea border by the national telemedicine center and confirmed by PCR. The library prepared with NextGenPCR™ MPXV Sequencing Library Prep and sequenced on Minion MK1C revealed a genome length of 197,122 bp with an average depth of 1284.4×. The strain belonged to Clade IIb G1 lineage and exhibited 85 mutations relative to NC_063383.1. To decipher genomic epidemiology, genomes ≥ 195 kb were retrieved from NCBI and aligned with MAFFT. Time-resolved phylogenetic reconstruction and ancestral trait inference were performed with TreeTime v0.11.4. A median joining network was built with Popart v1.7. Phylogeographic analysis revealed clustering with Clade IIb (G.1 lineage) linked to the May 2025 outbreak in Sierra Leone.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for rapid and accurate diagnosis of respiratory viral infections and reinforced the importance of integrated respiratory virus surveillance systems. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) provide timely results but may show limited sensitivity compared with molecular assays. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the BD Veritor™ System for Rapid Detection of Respiratory Viruses for detecting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Influenza A, and Influenza B in Mali, using multiplex real-time RT-PCR as the reference standard. A total of 1202 nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal swab specimens collected between March 2020 and March 2022 from suspected respiratory infection cases were analyzed. Samples were tested using the BD Veritor™ rapid antigen assay and compared with the ViroQ^® SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB/RSV multiplex RT-PCR assay performed on the LightCycler^® 480 II system. Diagnostic performance was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and Cohen’s kappa coefficient. The BD Veritor™ assay demonstrated consistently high specificity (>91%) for all viral targets, whereas sensitivity remained low, ranging from 21.05% to 30.43%. Positive predictive values ranged from 24.78% to 46.15%, while negative predictive values remained above 83%. Agreement with RT-PCR was low (κ = 0.14–0.24), indicating limited concordance between the two methods. The reduced sensitivity observed may partly be explained by low viral loads, prolonged frozen storage of samples before antigen testing, and the complex epidemiological context associated with the co-circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the BD Veritor™ assay may provide useful support for rapid clinical orientation and triage in resource-limited settings, negative results should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed by RT-PCR whenever possible.

Introduction. Antibiotic resistance is a major global health challenge that disproportionately affects low-resource countries, particularly those in West Africa. E. coli, a major pathogen in childhood diarrhea, is both a prominent infectious agent and a reservoir of resistance genes, including resistance to last-resort antibiotics such as carbapenems. Methodology. The study focused on 98 clinical E. coli isolates collected from stool samples of patients in a hospital setting in Bamako. The analyses included screening for DEC-specific virulence genes, detection of resistance genes across various classes of antibiotics (e.g., beta-lactams, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones), and identification of class I, II, and III integrons. The bla_NDM gene was sequenced to identify mutations associated with carbapenem resistance. Results. Among the isolates, 85.7% carried at least one virulence gene. Of these, half involved co-infections, commonly combining EPEC, EAEC, and ETEC strains. Regarding antibiotic resistance, 94.9% of isolates harbored at least one resistance gene, and 50% were multidrug-resistant. The most frequently detected genes were bla_TEM, qnrS1, and aphA3. Class II integrons were significantly associated with multidrug resistance (p = 0.01). Sequencing of the bla_NDM gene revealed point mutations likely to affect protein function, suggesting an evolution toward increased resistance to carbapenems. Conclusion. The high prevalence of multidrug-resistant diarrheagenic E. coli strains in this study highlights the local antibiotic pressure and the serious health threat it represents. This study shows that the new β-lactamase bla_NDM gene has disseminated in the hospital environment of Bamako. It should be noted that this will become a major challenge for clinicians.

Mpox is a zoonosis caused by the monkeypox virus. Here, we report Mali’s index Mpox case, which was clinically identified at the Mali-Guinea border by the national telemedicine centre and confirmed by PCR. The library prepared with NextGenPCR™ MPXV Sequencing Library Prep and sequenced on Minion MK1C revealed a genome length length of 177,122 bp with an average depth 1284.4x. The strain belonged to clade IIb G1 lineage and exhibited 85 mutations relative to NC_063383.1. To decipher genomic epidemiology, genomes ≥195 kb were retrieved from NCBI and aligned with MAFFT. Time-resolved phylogenetic reconstruction and ancestral trait inference were performed with TreeTime v0.11.4. Phylogeographic analysis revealed clustering with clade IIb (G.1 lineage) linked to the May 2025 outbreak in Sierra Leone.