There are about 94 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Gambia. 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.
Hypertension, which results from a combination of multiple lifestyle and genetic factors, is a global public health problem affecting 1 billion people worldwide. The identification of cheap treatment interventions without adverse side effects would be hugely advantageous particularly in low-income settings with high prevalence of hypertension such as sub-Saharan Africa where up to 46% of adults are affected. Emerging evidence links a functional polymorphism in the MTHFR gene (rs1801133 C677T), encoding the folate-metabolising enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase to high blood pressure in adults. Variation at rs1801133 is relatively common and has 3 genotypes; homozygous "normal" CC, heterozygous CT and homozygous "variant" TT genotypes. Of these genotypes, the homozygous "variant" TT is more strongly associated with a higher BP. The precise mechanism by which MTHFR is associated with BP remains unclear. It has been recently shown in 3 separate randomized controlled trials that BP is highly responsive to riboflavin and that this response is differential by MTHFR rs1801133 genotype. In all these clinical trials, significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed in the homozygous variant TT genotype and an intermediate effect seen in those with the heterozygous CT genotype. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of riboflavin supplementation on blood pressure in a riboflavin-deplete population as well as comparing plasma riboflavin status before and after supplementation. This will be achieved by conducting a randomized single-blind placebo controlled trial over a period of 16 weeks. The Investigators will use the Keneba biobank to invite about 100 adults with the CT genotype and a similar number of age-, sex and village-matched CC homozygotes. Participants within each of the groups will be randomized to receive either riboflavin (5mg/d) or a matching placebo which would be supplied on a weekly basis. Blood sample, blood pressure measurement, socio-demographic data and their anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist and hip circumference and body composition by BIA) will be taken during the initial visit. An additional blood sample will be taken at the end of the study whilst additional BP measurements will be taken respectively at 8 weeks and at the end of the intervention. The possibility that riboflavin deficiency represents a new, easily-correctible causal factor in hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa would require further large-scale interventions if this pilot study yields encouraging results.
STUDY OBJECTIVE To confirm the incidence of in-hospital postoperative complications in adult surgical patients in Africa. STUDY DESIGN Seven day, African national multi-centre prospective observational cohort study of adult (≥18 years) patients undergoing surgery. Patients will be followed up for a maximum of 30 days. We will follow the original International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS) study design. The primary outcome is in-hospital postoperative complications in adult surgical patients in Africa. Secondary outcomes include in-hospital mortality and the relationship between postoperative complications and postoperative mortality. The intention is to present a representative sample of surgical outcomes across all African countries. This study will run between February and March 2016.
The live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is made up of weakened influenza viruses given into the nose and in early studies was shown to be better than the standard influenza vaccine at preventing infections in children. However, more recently, it has performed less well and it may also work less well in Sub-Saharan Africa. Not only do the investigators not know why this is, but the investigators also do not fully understand why LAIV produces stronger nasal antibody responses in some individuals but not others. Usually harmless bacteria that are present in participants noses can influence how our immune system works and variations in these may explain differences in how LAIV works. The project will recruit children given LAIV in the Gambia to gain further understanding of these issues. The investigators will measure a variety of responses to LAIV, including genes that can change their expression early after vaccination and use advanced computational techniques to identify new relationships between these genes and other LAIV responses. The investigators will also see whether nasal bacterial profiles in children who respond to LAIV are different from those who do not. In addition, the investigators will alter these bacteria in a subset of children with antibiotics and see whether this affects both nasal gene expression and later responses to LAIV.
The introduction of one dose of the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization schedules in OPV-only using countries as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was planned for completion in 2016. However, due to recent developments in the global IPV supply landscape, the GPEI polio eradication program is facing a critical shortage of the vaccine which is forecast to continue until at least the end of 2017. The shortage means that some countries that have already introduced the vaccine, but which are considered to be relatively low risk (The Gambia included), will be left without adequate supplies and in other countries IPV introduction is being unavoidably delayed. Exacerbating the shortage is the need to reserve IPV for future outbreak responses (OBR). The current OBR protocol recommends that, if a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreak occurs (after the recent global switch from trivalent to bivalent OPV), a large scale IPV campaign will be implemented to increase population immunity to the type 2 poliovirus in an large area surrounding the outbreak as high risk of extending transmission. Due to above, dose-sparing through the administration of intra-dermal (ID) fractional (one fifth - 0.1mL) doses of IPV (fIPV) has become a very important focus and, for planning purposes, there is an urgent need to assess the practical and logistic challenges a country such as The Gambia would face in rapidly undertaking an ID fIPV campaign.
This study aims to determine whether IHAT is non-inferior to ferrous sulphate at correcting iron deficiency and anaemia, and if IHAT does not increase diarrhoea risk in young children living in rural and resource-poor areas of the Gambia. The study hypothesis is that IHAT will eliminate iron deficiency and improve haemoglobin levels in young children without increasing infectious diarrhoea or promoting inflammation in the gut.
Reactive treatment of household contacts of a confirmed malaria case has been shown to reduce infection prevalence since the former as they are at an increased risk of infection. However, implementing this on a programmatic scale poses significant pressure on the health system and may not be sustainable without the active involvement of the recipient community. This study investigates a novel approach to reducing residual malaria transmission that combines the elements of active community involvement in reactive treatment of household contacts of a clinical case reporting at a health facility. The investigators hypothesize that in areas of low transmission (prevalence of infection ≤10%), most asymptomatic carriers are clustered around clinical malaria cases in the same households. Also, targeting individuals sharing a sleeping area with diagnosed malaria case will reduce parasite carriage in the community. This is a cluster-randomized trial where villages in Central and Upper Baddibu, North Bank East Region of The Gambia, are randomized to receive either reactive treatment of household contacts following a confirmed case of malaria or standard care, i.e. treatment of index case only. Formative research into community perception and reaction to self-administered treatment will be used to generate, adapt and evaluate messages that encourage adherence and compliance to treatment. This will be tested in the first year of the implementation, and findings used to develop a final model of messages to be implemented in the second year of the study. The primary outcome is the prevalence of malaria infection, determined by molecular methods, in all age groups at the end of the second intervention year and the incidence of clinical malaria during the transmission season.
This is a proof of concept study that will evaluate the feasibility of a vapor nanobubble technology (MalariSense) for malaria diagnostics. The MalariSense technology will use a highly innovative approach based on the transdermal non-invasive detection of vapor nanobubbles produced by the excitation of malaria-specific hemozoin by safe, low-energy laser pulse. The objectives of this study will be to determine the sensitivity and specificity of MalariSense in diagnosing malaria in malaria suspected cases attending a health facility in The Gambia and to identify factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy of MalariSense
Background: Community based-intervention trials conducted among infants and young children in low- and middle-income countries have found that zinc supplementation of young children (in the form of liquid supplements or dispersible tablets) increases linear growth and weight gain, and reduces the prevalence of diarrhea and respiratory infections, and lowers all-cause mortality. Aside from supplements, additional dietary zinc can also be provided through "home-fortification" of complementary foods with small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS; 20g/d), which are typically formulated as a peanut-based paste enriched with a vitamin and mineral complex containing 8 mg elemental zinc (as ZnSO4). However, the efficacy of LNS as a delivery vehicle for preventive zinc supplementation remains uncertain. Two recent studies, which provided LNS containing 4-10 mg Zn daily for 6-9 months found no significant differences in plasma zinc concentrations at the end of the intervention period compared to placebo. This lack of response may be due to the reduced absorption of zinc when it is part of a complex food matrix and provided with cereal-based meals; both SQ-LNS and cereal grains contain moderate to high concentrations of phytate, the main dietary factor known to substantially reduce zinc absorption. The addition of exogenous phytases is an efficacious strategy to reduce the phytate content of foods, and increase the bioavailability of dietary zinc; however, the efficacy of this approach has not yet been demonstrated for SQ-LNS. Objective: The overall objective of the study is to assess the efficacy of adding exogenous phytase to SQ-LNS by investigating intra-individual differences in the fractional absorption of zinc (FAZ) among children who receive additional dietary zinc (8 mg/d) from SQ-LNS with or without phytase. Trial approach: The study will be a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial, designed to permit within-child comparisons of zinc absorption from SQ-LNS, with or without exogenous phytase, by using the triple stable-isotope ratio tracer technique. The clinical study will enroll 34 children between the ages of 18-23 months. The main outcome of interest is the intra-individual difference in the FAZ from porridge-based meals containing SQ-LNS with and without phytase. Up to an` additional 36 children will be enrolled in a pilot feeding study to determine portion sizes of study meals. Trial setting: Keneba, The Gambia Trial interventions: The SQ-LNS (20g) used in this study will be provided by Nutriset, S.A.S. The exogenous phytase (DSM phytase Tolerase 20000G) is derived from Aspergillus niger; phytase will be added to the SQ-LNS during the production phase, and will be enzymatically active in vivo at the time of consumption. Feeding Protocol and Study Diet: The study diet for the 2day absorption study will consist of the following: 1) Two stable-isotope labeled test meals per day (porridge made from locally procured non-fermented cereal, mixed with 10 g of SQ-LNS), with children randomized to receive either SQ-LNS with phytase or SQ-LNS without phytase on the first day and the alternative product on the second; 2) One additional standardized meal per day (e.g. rice with sauce); 3) Low-zinc, low-phytate food (e.g. bananas) consumed ad libitum if requested (with the exception of 1 hour before and 2 hours after each test meal). Children will be fed by their caregivers under supervision by a study fieldworker. The SQ-LNS product (without phytase) will be provided to children twice per day for one day prior to the start of the stable isotope absorption studies, in order to habituate children to the study diet and location. Children will attend the study clinic daily for four days and will be enrolled in the study for a total of ten days. Zinc absorption studies: The FAZ of zinc will be measured by a triple-isotope tracer ratio technique, using orally administered extrinsic labels (Zn-67 and Zn-70) and intravenous Zn-68. Urine samples, collected pre- and post-isotope administration (d 1, 5-9) will be analyzed for zinc isotope ratios by ICP-MS. FAZ will be calculated based on the mean isotopic ratios obtained from the enriched urine samples, and based on the tracer:tracee ratio method. TAZ will be calculated by multiplying FAZ by total zinc intake from the test meals. Data Collection: The following information will be collected from each subject: brief medical history; physical examination; weight and height; daily morbidity and pre-intervention blood sampling for hemoglobin, complete blood count and plasma zinc concentration, malaria and systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein and α-1-acid glycoprotein).
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the tolerability and safety of increasing doses of primaquine in combination with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in G6PD deficient males.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for over 10 percent of death in children under five and many of these deaths occur in early infancy before the current pneumococcal schedule is effective and nearly half occur in sub Saharan Africa. The PROPEL trial will examine the effect of either a maternal or a neonatal dose of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on pneumococcal colonisation in the nose which can be used to measure the risk of disease in early life. 600 Expectant mothers will be randomized at between 28 and 34 weeks to a maternal group, a neonatal group or a control group in equal number (200 per group). Their subsequent born offspring will be followed up until nine months of age. Infants born from expectant mothers in the maternal and control group will receive their subsequent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination according to the national Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) schedule in the Gambia at 8, 12 and 16 weeks while infants born to expectant mothers in the control group will receive the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine within 48 hours of birth and at 8 and 16 weeks of life. Randomization will be undertaken by defined un-blinded members of the clinical trial team who will be delegated for this task and who will not be involved in any other trial related procedures Pregnant women who are willing and who are identified by the staff of the government antenatal clinic as being potentially eligible according to gestation (assessed initially according to the date of the last menstrual period (LMP) - if known, or the fundal height), will be referred to a member of the clinical trial team. Those who remain interested in participation having had the details of the study explained will have basic demographic, obstetric and contact details collected and will be invited, at a time of their convenience, to the Medical Research Council (MRC) clinical trial site for the formal informed consent process to be completed. Following informed consent, pregnancy will be confirmed with a urinary pregnancy test. Initial screening (e.g. for past-obstetric history and past-medical history etc) will be undertaken at this point along with screening bloods for serology (HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis) and haematology (haemoglobin and sickle test). A dating ultrasound scan (USS) will also be undertaken by designated clinical trial staff. On completion of screening, expectant mothers who are confirmed to be eligible according to the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria will be enrolled and randomized in parallel into one of three equally sized groups mentioned above (maternal, neonatal, control). According to the group into which they have been randomized, mothers will receive a dose of PCV13 and tetanus toxoid [maternal group], placebo (0.9% sodium chloride) and tetanus toxoid [control group] or tetanus toxoid alone [neonatal group]. From this point on, the maternal and control groups (now 'Routine EPI Schedule') will be followed up in exactly the same way for the purposes of interventions and all endpoint assessments. Infants in the neonatal group ('Neonatal Schedule') will be followed up according to the schedule outlined. At the time of presentation to the delivery unit a blood sample for serology and malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and an nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) sample will be obtained prior to or shortly following delivery. Immediately following delivery a sample of cord blood will be obtained and as soon as possible an NPS sample will be taken from the newborn. Anthropometric measurements will be taken from the newborn and an examination conducted. Once there has not been any contraindication to vaccination identified, all newborns will be administered the routine EPI vaccines according to the schedule in The Gambia (BCG, Hepatitis B and OPV). Those newborns in the Neonatal group will additionally be administered a single intramuscular (IM) dose of PCV13. At two, three and four months, infants will be administered the routine EPI vaccines. Those infants in the Maternal and Control Groups (Routine EPI Schedule) will additionally receive PCV13 at eight, 12, and 16 weeks while those in the Neonatal group will receive the vaccine at eight and 16 weeks only having received the first dose at birth. All infants will additionally receive a single dose of the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) at 16 weeks in line with the routine EPI schedule in The Gambia. Following the vaccines administered to expectant mothers and following the vaccines administered at birth, home visits will be undertaken on day 1 to 6 to collect solicited local and systemic adverse (for PCV only) reactions and any unsolicited. A day 7 safety clinic visit will be conducted following the vaccines administered to expectant mothers and following the vaccines administered at birth. Infant will attend the clinical trial site for NPS and blood samples to be taken at specific time points.