Background Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a deadly and feared infectious disease, which can be responsible of debilitating physical and psychological sequelae in survivors including depression and anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, there are scarce data on survivor sequelae in Democratic Republic of the Congo. So this study assessed PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms among EVD survivors enrolled in the follow-up program of the psychosocial care team of Beni town’s general hospital. Methods A cross-sectional study used consecutive sampling to recruit 144 Ebola virus disease survivors who came for follow up from October 23 to November 13; 2019. Basic socio-demographic data, presence of headache and short-term memory function were assessed. The Post-traumatic Checklist Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used to assess psychological burden among participants. Descriptive statistics were used to summarized data and Pearson’s or likelihood chi-square were used to test association between psychiatric disorders and associated factors. Results The prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety was 24.3, 24.3 and 33.3% respectively. Being male (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.95, p = 0.049), suffering from persistent headache (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.12, 6.14, p = 0.014), losing a loved one because of EVD (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.11, 6.15, p = 0. 015) and being young − 18-24 years - (OR: 0. 261, 95% CI: 0. 08, 0.82, p = 0,026) were statistically associated with PTSD diagnosis. Having short-term memory impairment and suffering from persistent headache were statistically associated with depression and anxiety diagnoses (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.03, 5.82, p = 0.026); (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.85, p = 0.025); (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.12, 6.14, p = 0.014); (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.06, 5.01, p = 0.020). Conclusion The prevalence of PTSD, depression and anxiety is high among EVD survivors. Development of specialized psychiatric services to sustain psychiatric and psychological health amongst survivors in the cultural context of the Eastern part of the DRC should be considered by the teams fighting against EVD in the DRC.

L’épilepsie est une maladie neurologique fréquemment rencontrée en Afrique Subsaharienne (ASS) au sein de la population pédiatrique. Bien que sa prévalence exacte au sein de cette population ne serait pas connue, il y a lieu de penser qu'elle n'est pas très différente de celle de la population générale à cause de l’âge précoce de son début - avant 20 ans dans plus 60% des cas - et à l'absence de la distribution bimodale retrouvée dans les pays industrialisés. Tout au long de cette revue de la littérature, une réalité se dégage: la prise en charge globale de l'enfant épileptique en ASS est inadéquate. Pour inverser cette tendance, les défis à relever semblent être de trois ordres. Outre la recherche, ces défis comportent une dimension thérapeutique et une dimension éducationnelle. Il y a nécessité de former des médecins à la pratique de la neurologie pédiatrique tout en créant des conditions de travail qui limitent la fuite des cerveaux. Il est urgent d'identifier et de combler les besoins nécessaires à la prise en charge correcte des enfants épileptiques selon les pays et les régions (indisponibilité des médicaments anti comitiaux, l'absence des guidelines nationaux, le déficit d'encadrement de guérisseurs traditionnels…) enfin, il est impérieux d'encourager la réalisation des études visant à établir l'incidence et la prévalence correctes des épilepsies chez l'enfant afin de faciliter la pose des jalons des mesures de lutte ciblées.

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Inappropriate seizure management may result in high morbidity and mortality. We assessed the adherence of health professionals in southern Rwanda to a national protocol for pharmacological management of seizures in children. A questionnaire featuring a 5-year-old child with generalized prolonged seizures was administered. The questions focused on the choice of initial treatment and the sequence of management following failure of the initial treatment choice. Benzodiazepine was chosen as initial therapy by 93.7% of physicians and 90.9% of nurses. Only 49.2% of physicians and 41% of nurses would repeat the initial treatment in case of failure of the first dose and 47% of doctors would wait 30 min to intervene. In case of refractory status epilepticus, 34% of physicians would give three doses of benzodiazepine, whereas 19% did not know what to do. These results suggest poor adherence to national protocol.

Objective:To determine the pattern, management, and outcome of headaches among patients treated at Outpatient Neurology Clinic.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted at the Out-Patient Neurology Clinic of the Butare University Teaching Hospital, University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda between February and May 2015. We extracted the demographic data, headache characteristics, and associated conditions, prior pain-relieving medication use, waiting time before consultation, the results of paraclinical investigations, final diagnosis according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, management, and 3-month clinical outcome from the medical records of all patients who consulted for headache over 36-month period. Epi Data and Statistical package for Social sciences software version 21.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) software were used for data processing.Results:Headache disorders represent a quarter of all neurological consultations. Patients were predominantly female (67%) and young (78% <45 years old). One-third (34%) presented with chronic tension-type headache. Neuroimaging demonstrated an abnormality in a significant minority (14%). Amitriptyline was the most commonly used drug (60%) in management. Forty percent of those patients followed for 3 months did not experience any clinical improvement.Conclusion:Headache is among the most common medical complaints in the Outpatient Neurology Clinic, with a wide array of underlying diagnoses, and a significant yield on neuroimaging. A significant proportion of those suffering from headache disorders have poor short-term outcomes. Novel approaches, such as headache support groups and alternative pharmacological agents, should be investigated for these patients.