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.
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.
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.
Tuberculosis is currently treated with a 6-month course regimen. During this time many patients might fail to adhere to treatment and default, increasing the risk of recurrent disease which might be multidrug resistant. A shorter duration of treatment is expected to provide improved patient compliance and at least equal or better clinical outcome. The aim of the trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a gatifloxacin-containing regimen of four months duration for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis,