There are about 50 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Benin. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Monitoring pregnancy outcomes during pregnancy is very important in assessing the effectiveness of interventions. This study aims to create pregnancy registers and evaluate pregnancy mobile applications as a potential tool for monitoring pregnancy outcomes in future placental malaria (PM) vaccine trials, as well as for the implementation of any other intervention in this target group.
This clinical trial aims to examine the effects of combining HIIT on a semi-recumbent cycle ergometer (HIIT-RCE) with conventional physiotherapy on impairments and activity limitations in early subacute stroke. We hypothesized that HIIT combined with conventional physiotherapy would be more effective than conventional physiotherapy in improving workload capacity.
The aim of this observational study was to develop, with the intended users, an epidemic surveillance and response system that will be effective, sensitive, coordinated and appropriate. The STREESCO project aims to - Implement active epidemiological surveillance of suspected cases in Benin at strategic sites in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) protocol, in support of the national strategy for responding to the CoVID-19 virus. - To strengthen this national strategy by developing a clinico-epidemiological surveillance system in remote areas of Benin (health centre approach) and Burkina Faso (population survey approach). - To gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the epidemic and its parameters in Africa thanks to a modern biostatistical and geo-epidemiological analysis of the data collected as part of this project.
Undernutrition is a leading global risk factor of tuberculosis (TB) and a prevalent comorbidity associated with TB. In Benin, the National TB Program systematically provides nutritional support to all persons with TB (PWTB), distributing prepared foods to hospitalized patients and food baskets during outpatient care. In Togo, the PWTB population is similar to that of Benin; however, Togo does not have a systematic program in place to provide nutritional support to these patients. The investigators will perform a prospective cohort analysis using anonymized TB patient data from the National TB Programs of Benin and Togo. Participants enrolled in Benin will receive nutritional support from the hospital while those enrolled in Togo will not. Participants in Togo who do not receive nutritional support will serve as a control. Unfavorable outcomes in both groups such as treatment failure, death, or relapse will be compared. The results from this study should help to shape TB programs in the future by incorporating nutritional support.
Diagnosis of bloodstream infections (BSI) is done by sampling blood in blood culture bottles that are checked for growth in the microbiology laboratory. In LRS, microbiology laboratories are however scarce, and BSI cannot be diagnosed, resulting in overuse of antibiotics which fuels AMR. For diagnosis of BSI, so-called manual blood culture (equipment-free) systems are used in LRS, with daily visual inspection for growth. Compared to automates, manual systems are less sensitive, and growth is slower; in addition, training and experience are needed before laboratory staff is competent to detect growth when inspecting the blood culture bottles. A simplified blood culture system could enable expanded use of blood cultures in LRS and would thus improve BSI treatment. Ongoing research at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with Ghent University has resulted in a novel, simple, cheap, open-access and robust blood culture system, the Bactinsight blood culture system. This system consists of two modules. Firstly, a portable, battery-operated measurement device (turbidimeter), which monitors and detects bacterial growth in blood culture bottles based on the turbidity of the culture medium caused by bacterial growth. Secondly, optimized blood culture bottles have been developed. A second step in blood cultures is the identification of the causing organism. Researchers at LETI (Grenoble, France) have developed a lensfree microscope, which simplifies and expedites identification of the causative organisms, improving patient's diagnosis and more directed antibiotic treatment. The lensfree microscope is an additional module for the Bactinsight blood culture system. In SIMBLE, the Bactinsight blood culture system will be evaluated against reference systems in two phases. During the optimization phase in Belgium, the performance of Bactinsight turbidimeter + lensfree microscope will be tested in a reference hospital laboratory. In parallel, an in vitro laboratory evaluation of the Bactinsight blood culture system (turbidimeter + blood culture bottles + lensfree microscope) will be done using spiked blood cultures. In the field-testing phase, the ease-of-use, acceptability, adoptability and performance of Bactinsight blood culture system will be evaluated in three hospitals in Benin and Burkina Faso. The blood culture bottles used for this study will be manufactured in a production facility in Benin, that will be installed at the start of the project.
This study aims to evaluate the effects of SMC (Seasonal malaria chemoprevention) with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) and Amodiaquine (AQ) on the evolution of anti-malarial immunity of children and their susceptibility to malarial infection. This is a cross-sectional study on children aged 6 to 59 months with/without SMC in two villages in northern Benin. Sociodemographic and clinical data as well as repeated blood samples will be collected from 440 children (before, during and after treatment). Samples will be analyzed using a Luminex assay to investigate antibody responses to MSP (merozoite surface protein) , Glurp (Glutamate-Rich Protein) and a panel of PfEMP1. qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) will be used to detect the prevalence of malaria at this period and parasites infecting children will be characterize during the follow up.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and tuberculosis (TB) jointly are the leading cause of overall mortality. There is a need to integrate sustainable triage and management strategies into standard care. The TrUST study investigates the utility of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for diagnosis and prognosis of LRTIs in TB endemic regions in the outpatient triage setting. Automated interpretation of POCUS by artificial intelligence (AI) may further standardize and improve its predictive utility as well as facilitate its implementation into usual practice.
Buruli ulcer (BU) is a skin Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) that is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. It affects skin, soft tissues and bones causing long-term morbidity, stigma and disability. The greatest burden falls on children in sub-Saharan Africa. Treating BU requires 8-weeks with daily rifampicin and clarithromycin, wound care, and sometimes tissue grafting and surgery. Healing can take up to one year. Compliance is challenging due to socioeconomic determinants and may pose an unbearable financial burden to the household. Recent studies led by members of this Consortium demonstrated that beta-lactams combined with rifampicin and clarithromycin are synergistic against M. ulcerans in vitro. Amoxicillin/clavulanate is oral, suitable for treatment in adults and children, and readily available with an established clinical pedigree. Its inclusion in a triple oral BU therapy has the potential of improving healing and shortening BU therapy. The investigators propose a single blinded, randomized, controlled open label non-inferiority phase II, multi-centre trial in Benin with participants stratified according to BU category lesions and randomized in two oral regimens: (i) Standard [RC8]: rifampicin plus clarithromycin (RC) therapy for 8 weeks; and (ii) Investigational [RCA4]: standard (RC) plus amoxicillin/clavulanate (A) for 4 weeks. At least, a total of 140 patients will be recruited (70 per treatment arm), of which at least 132 will be PCR-confirmed. The primary efficacy outcome will be lesion healing without recurrence and without excision surgery 12 months after start of treatment (i.e. cure). A clinical expert panel assessing the need of excision surgery in both treatment arms will be blinded for treatment allocation in order to make objectives comparisons. Decision for excision surgery will be delayed to 14 weeks after initiation of antibiotic treatment. Secondary clinical efficacy outcomes include recurrence, treatment discontinuation and compliance rates, and the incidence of adverse effects, among others. In addition, two sub-studies will be performed: a pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis and a bacterial clearance study. If successful, this study will create a new paradigm for BU treatment, which could inform changes in WHO policy and practice. This trial may also provide information on treatment shortening strategies for other mycobacterial infections, such as tuberculosis or leprosy.
The objective of the study is to compare outcomes from three different strategies for the management of household (HH) contacts of individuals with newly diagnosed microbiologically confirmed active pulmonary TB. The study is a cluster randomized trial with three arms of equal size. The first eligible member of the HH who provides signed informed consent to participate will be randomized to one of the three strategies. The three different study arms are as follows: 1. Standard care (control arm): Participants will receive symptom screening and tuberculin skin testing (TST). If symptom screen positive and/or TST positive, they undergo chest x-rays (CXR). If CXR abnormal, they undergo microbiological investigation. If CXR normal or if microbiological investigation negative, TST positive receive latent TB infection (LTBI) treatment. If microbiological investigation is positive, they will be offered treatment for active TB. For children under 5 years of age in Brazil, sputum induction will be performed for bacteriological investigation 2. GeneXpert (GX): Participants follow an algorithm similar to the standard care, however participants with positive symptom screen and/or positive TST will receive GX (i.e., GX replaces CXR in standard care algorithm). GX positive are considered to have active TB. TST positive and GX negative receive LTBI treatment. If an individual is not able to provide sputum, they will undergo a CXR. 3. CXR for all/NoTST: Participants will receive symptom screening and CXR. No TST will be performed. If CXR abnormal or symptom positive, they undergo microbiological investigation. If the CXR is normal, and/or microbiological investigations negative - they receive LTBI treatment as per national guidelines. If microbiological investigation is positive they will be offered treatment for active TB. The study population includes HIV uninfected persons aged 5-50 years who are HH contacts of individuals with newly diagnosed microbiologically confirmed active pulmonary TB. The planned number of household contacts to recruit is about 1434 in total, or about 455 for each of the three arms. The study will take place in Benin and Brazil. The primary study outcome is, of those eligible for LTBI therapy, the proportion starting therapy within 3 months of the index TB patient starting active TB treatment. Secondary outcomes measured in each study arm include societal costs, prevalence of microbiologically confirmed and clinically diagnosed active TB, prevalence of TB infection, Incidence of adverse events, proportion who complete LTBI therapy, sensitivity and specificity of Chest Xray reading in each study side, and prevalence of active TB diagnosed using CXR in participants who cannot produce a sputum sample. Details of the statistical analysis plan for each primary and secondary outcome are provided below. Applicable for Brazil only: To evaluate the applicability and performance of material for bacteriological investigation obtained from induced sputum in children under 5 years of age. Study participants will be recruited over 18 months. Participants will be followed until LTBI treatment is completed.
The study is a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial that will be conducted primarily in healthcare settings and other facilities directly involved in COVID-19 case management. We will recruit healthcare workers and other persons at risk of contracting COVID-19, who can be followed reliably for 5 months. The initial aim was to recruit 40,000 participants and we predict an average of 400-800 participants per site in 50-100 sites. The participant will be randomised to receive either chloroquine or placebo (1:1 randomisation), or to hydroxychloroquine or placebo (1:1 randomisation). A loading dose of 10mg base/kg (four 155mg tablets for a 60kg subject), followed by 155 mg daily (250mg chloroquine phosphate salt/ 200mg hydroxychloroquine sulphate) will be taken for 3 months. If the participant is diagnosed with COVID-19, they will take continue to take the study medication until: - 90 days after enrolment (i.e., completion of kit) - hospitalised due to COVID-19 disease (i.e., not for quarantine purposes) in which case they will stop, or - advised to stop by their healthcare professional for other reasons Episodes of symptomatic respiratory illness, including symptomatic COVID-19, and clinical outcomes will be recorded in the Case Record Form during the follow-up period. This study is funded by Wellcome Trust Grant reference 221307/Z/20/Z.