There are about 65 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Guinea-Bissau. 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.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) will affect ~650 million adults worldwide by 2040 and about as many will have pre-diabetes. Chronic hyperinsulinemia/insulin resistance precedes T2D development. Studies link insulin resistance with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. In Guinea-Bissau, a low-income country in West Africa, the T2D incidence is largely unknown and there is an acute lack of diabetes doctors, nurses and other diabetes educators. They hardly have access to insulin, and mortality from T2D complications is high. Previous studies by the Bandim Health Project (www.bandim.org) in the country show that the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has non-specific effects, well beyond tuberculosis prevention, conferring a general protection against unrelated pathogens. At the same time, studies from the US have also shown that BCG can significantly improve glycemic control in Type-1 diabetes (T1D) patients. Yet, no such studies have been done in T2D or pre-diabetes. The purpose of the present study is to administer BCG to patients with pre-diabetes, in order to reduce hyperinsulinemia/chronic inflammation, a novel strategy to flatten the growing T2D incidence.
The trial will be a two-year outcome assessor-blinded RCT at the maternity ward of Hospital Simão Mendes (HNSM) in urban Bissau, Guinea-Bissau to compare vaccination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Danish strain (AJ Vaccines, Copenhagen 1331 strain) versus BCG-Bulgaria (BB-NCIPD, BCG-SL 222 Sofia strain) 1:1 in 15,000 infants with respect to mortality, morbidity and case-fatality rate during hospital admission. The trial will also examine the association between BCG strains and BCG skin reaction kinetics and characteristics. As a secondary aim, this large study will be used to further evaluate the role of maternal BCG immune priming for overall health, since there are indications that the maternal BCG scar status influences offspring health outcomes.
Diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children is particularly challenging in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), and a high number of children remain undiagnosed and untreated. A delay in diagnosis can lead to an increase in preventable morbidity and mortality. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a bedside, non-invasive, inexpensive imaging tool, and TB-focused POCUS has been used and validated for adults with HIV. This study aims to describe the TB-focused POCUS findings for children with presumptive TB aged between 6 months and 15 years old, and to stratify the results per HIV, nutritional status and age. This is a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) multicentric study which takes place in Guinea Bissau and South Sudan.
In Africa, the mortality from infectious diseases remains high. The investigators have discovered that live vaccines such as the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis and the measles vaccine can strengthen resistance to other infections: they have beneficial "non-specific effects". The investigators have now seen signs that these non-specific effects for children are stronger if their mother has been given the same vaccines. In Africa, BCG vaccine is recommended at birth and measles vaccine at 9 months of age. They are not used beyond childhood. The investigators will randomize 2400 women to BCG vaccine, measles vaccine, or placebo. The investigators will further randomize their children to an extra early measles vaccine or placebo. The investigators will assess which of the resulting six vaccination schedules are best for women's and children's protection against measles, for the child's immune system, and for general health. The project will be the first in the world to investigate the importance of vaccinating women with live vaccines.
Objective: to measure the effectiveness and safety of (artemether-lumefantrine) AL and (dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine) DP in patients (> 6 months) suffering from uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. Patients coming to Bandim Health Center will, if accepting, be randomised to study-arm. Medication will be provided and first dose given. Patients will be followed-up on day 7, 14, 28, and 42 with clinical evaluation, malaria film and filter-paper blood-sample for polumerase chain reaction (PCR) on re-appearing parasites. On day 21 and 35 a telephone-interview will be performed. Primary out-come: adequate clinical and parasitological response rate on day 42. Secondary out-comes: safety, re-infection vs recrudescence, and haemoglobin on day 42.
This is a cluster-randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the additive benefit of Ivermectin (IVM) (or Placebo) mass drug administration (MDA) to dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) MDA for malaria control in a moderate to low malaria-endemic setting as an adjunctive strategy to existing programmatic malaria control measures. The regime of DP and IVM will target both human reservoirs of Plasmodium falciparum and the Anopheles gambiae vector respectively, with the aim of interrupting transmission. The trial will be conducted on the Bijagos Archipelago, where islands (clusters) will be randomised to receive seasonal DP and IVM or DP and Placebo MDA. The primary outcome will be the prevalence of infection with Plasmodium falciparum in all age groups detected by nucleic acid amplification testing during the peak malaria transmission season after two years of intervention.
Background: Worldwide, more than 50 million children under 5 years of age are wasted (weight-for-length/height Z-score (WLZ) <-2) and over 150 million children under 5 are stunted (length/height-for-age Z-score (LAZ) <-2); such wasting and stunting often begin during infancy.1 Optimal nutrition can prevent wasting and stunting. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is widely recommended by community health workers, doctors and nurses and provides optimal nutrition for most infants. However, early growth faltering is common for infants in low and middle income countries (LMIC) and can both increase an infant's risk of early mortality and also lead to deficits in attained height and weight throughout childhood. Thus research is needed to determine the most efficacious strategy to promote healthy early growth in LMIC. Objective: The proposed study will test the efficacy of early small-volume supplementation (ESVS) for increasing weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) at 1 month of age. Methodology: The PRIMES pilot (Study 3) will be a randomized clinical trial enrolling infants in Guinea-Bissau and Uganda weighing ≥2000g at birth. Infants weighing 2000-2499g at <6 hours of age (n=144; 72 per site) will be randomized on enrollment to one of two groups: 1) Early Small-Volume Supplementation (ESVS intervention group), which consists of up to 59 mL formula administered daily after breastfeeding through 30 days of age followed by EBF through 6 months of age; or 2) frequent exclusive breastfeeding without any food or fluid other than vitamins, minerals and medications (control) through 6 months of age. Infants weighing 2500-3300g at <6 hours of age will be weighed again at 4 days of age; those weighing <2600g at 4 days of age (n=180; 90 per site) will be randomized to the same intervention and control groups. Weight will be measured on all enrolled babies at birth on Day 1 and at 4, 14, 30, 60 and 180 days of age and additional measures including height, MUAC, skinfolds, and hemoglobin will be assessed at other time points. The study's primary outcome will be WAZ at 1 month of age. Secondary outcomes will include WLZ at 1 month of age; WAZ, WLZ and LAZ through 6 months of age; breastfeeding duration and infant intestinal microbiota.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is recommended at birth to protect against tuberculosis (TB) in countries with high TB burden. BCG is supplied in multidose vials with limited durability after reconstitution. In Guinea-Bissau, this has led to a practice of only opening a BCG vial at specific days, and only if sufficient children are present. Therefore, BCG vaccination is frequently delayed. Accumulating evidence indicates that BCG has beneficial effects on survival beyond the specific protection against tuberculosis, so called non-specific effects (NSEs). The hypothesis of this study is that increasing the availability of BCG and vaccinating children at the first health-facility contact can reduce early infant non-accidental mortality by 25%. In a cluster-randomised crossover trial, 23 health facilities (HFs) in three rural regions in Guinea-Bissau will be randomised to either continue with current practice (typically BCG vaccination once a week if a sufficient number of children are present for vaccination); or to offer additional BCG vaccines to make BCG available every day and open a vial of BCG if there is just one eligible child present. All children born in the three regions and registered during the study period, will be eligible for inclusion into the trial 1 day after birth. If consent is given by the mother, the child will be followed until day 42 after birth, when other vaccines are scheduled to be given. The primary outcome will be non-accidental mortality, secondary outcomes are non-accidental hospital admissions, non-accidental neonatal mortality and cost-effectiveness of making BCG available at the first health-facility contact.
The COVID-19 pandemic challenges available hospital capacity. Strategies to protect health care workers (HCW) are desperately needed. Bacille Calmette- Guérin (BCG) has protective non-specific effects against other infections; a plausible immunological mechanism has been identified in terms of "trained innate immunity". The primary objective of the study is to evaluate whether BCG can reduce unplanned absenteeism due to illness among HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary objectives are to reduce the number of HCW that are infected with COVID-19, reduce hospital admissions for HCW and to improve the capacity for clinical research. Design: Single-blind, parallel-group placebo-controlled multi-centre block randomized trial including a total of 1050 HCW. The study sites will be the Manhiça hospital in Mozambique, Central Hospital Dr. Agostinho Neto and Central Hospital Dr. Baptista de Sousa in Cape Verde and Hospital Nacional Simão Mendes and other hospitals in the capital Bissau in Guinea-Bissau. Population: HCW (nurses/physicians/others) ≥18 years. Intervention: Block randomization 1:1 to intradermal standard dose (0.1 ml) of BCG vaccine or placebo (saline). Endpoints: Primary: Days of unplanned absenteeism due to illness. Secondary: Days of absenteeism because of documented COVID-19; cumulative incidence of infectious disease hospitalizations. Follow-up: mobile phone interviews every second week, regarding symptoms, absenteeism and causes, COVID-19 testing (if done) and their results. Perspectives: If BCG can reduce HCW absenteeism it has global implications. The intervention can quickly be scaled up all over the world.
The number of cases of COVID-19 is still increasing and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 seems to occur mainly through person-to-person transmission through respiratory droplets, indirect contact with infected people and surfaces. The use of face masks is recommended as a public health measure, but in many settings only domestic cloth made masks are available to the majority of the people. However, masks can be of different quality and very little is known about the utility of cloth face masks at the community level. In Bandim Health Project's Health and Demographic Surveillance System we will evaluate the effect of providing locally produced cloth face masks on severity of COVID-19 like illness and mortality in an urban population. The locally produced cloth mask is made according to a laboratory certified model and will be provided to the intervention group alongside information of how the risk of transmission can be reduced. The control group will receive information alone. Follow-up will be implemented through telephone calls and post-epidemic home visits.