ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the prevalence and establish some risk factors associated with the acquisition of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in school children in Accra, Ghana.ResultsThe overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 15%. Giardia lamblia (10%) and Schistosoma mansoni (1.7%) were the common parasites found. Out of the 15% students postive for intestinal parasites, 13.6% had single parasites and 1.3% had double parasitic infections. Children between the ages of 4–5 and 6–7 years (20% each) had the most parasitic infections. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was not significantly related to gender (p = 0.1451), and source of drinking water (p = 0.8832). However, a statistically significant association between children infected with parasites and close proximity to domestic animals or pets was observed (p = 0.0284). Continuous education on personal hygiene, environmental sanitation and deworming of domestic animals or pets are required to reduce the prevalence of intestinal parasites in school children in Accra.

Background Recent studies from different malaria-endemic regions including western Africa have now shown that Plasmodium vivax can infect red blood cells (RBCs) and cause clinical disease in Duffy-negative people, though the Duffy-negative phenotype was thought to confer complete refractoriness against blood invasion with P. vivax. The actual prevalence of P. vivax in local populations in Ghana is unknown and little information is available about the distribution of Duffy genotypes. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of P. vivax in both asymptomatic and symptomatic outpatients and the distribution of Duffy genotypes in Ghana. Methods DNA was extracted from dried blood spots (DBS) collected from 952 subjects (845 malaria patients and 107 asymptomatic persons) from nine locations in Ghana. Plasmodium species identification was carried out by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA genes. For P. vivax detection, a second PCR of the central region of the Pvcsp gene was carried out. Duffy blood group genotyping was performed by allele-specific PCR to detect the presence of the FYES allele. Results No cases of P. vivax were detected in any of the samples by both PCR methods used. Majority of infections (542, 94.8%) in the malaria patient samples were due to P. falciparum with only 1 infection (0.0017%) due to Plasmodium malariae, and 2 infections (0.0034%) due to Plasmodium ovale. No case of mixed infection was identified. Of the samples tested for the FYES allele from all the sites, 90.5% (862/952) had the FYES allele. All positive samples were genotyped as FY*B-33/FY*B-33 (Duffy-negative homozygous) and therefore classified as Fy(a−b−). Conclusions No cases of P. vivax were detected by both PCRs and majority of the subjects tested carried the FYES allele. The lack of P. vivax infections observed can be attributed to the high frequency of the FYES allele that silences erythroid expression of the Duffy. These results provide insights on the host susceptibility for P. vivax infections that had not been investigated in Ghana before.

BackgroundIn this study, attempts were made to amplify the whole genome of HIV-2 using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from viral RNA and proviral DNA extracted from archived human plasma and whole blood, respectively. The aim this study is to develop a PCR system that can be used to amplify the entire genome of all known subtypes and recombinant forms of HIV-2MethodsProviral DNA and viral RNA were extracted from archived human whole blood and plasma using Zymo Research Viral DNA kit and Zymo Research Viral nucleic acids kit, respectively. Primers that target the conserved sites of the 3’ and 5’ long terminal repeat were selected based on in silico analysis using Snapgene® tool version 2.1.0. Eight overlapping Primers for PCR whole genome amplification of HIV-2 were also selected and used for overlap PCR amplification of whole genome of HIV-2. Long range and overlapping PCR of whole genome of HIV-2 were carried out using long range Kit (New England Biolabs Inc., Ipswich, MA, USA) and cDNA synthesized using NEB ProtoScript II for proviral DNA and viral RNA templates. Amplified whole genome of HIV-2 was gel purified and PCR confirmed using two sets of primers ENVF/ENVG and EB2/EB5 and gel electrophoresis.ResultsProviral DNA and viral RNA were successfully extracted from archived whole blood and plasma. Six primers were selected out of the 68 primer sequences retrieved using in silico analysis for long range single PCR amplification of HIV-2 whole genome. Primers P1/P8 and HIV2upA/HIV2lowA were successfully used in the whole genome amplification of HIV-2. Overlapping primers P1/P4, P6/P8, PolF/EnvG and Pol4F/EnvG covering the entire genome of HIV-2 were also successfully used in the whole genome amplification of HIV-2. The amplified whole genome fragment was confirmed to be HIV-2 by PCR using primers EB2/EB5 and EnvF/EnvG.ConclusionThe techniques of long-range and overlapping amplification of HIV-2 whole genome may be useful in HIV-2 genotyping using viral RNA and proviral DNA. This study has led to the selection and shown novel primer combinations of already existing primers which can be used to amplify the entire genome of HIV-2.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Background The Duffy-negative phenotype is a condition which is thought to confer complete resistance against blood infection with Plasmodium vivax. However, recent studies from different malaria-endemic regions including western Africa have now shown that P. vivax can infect red blood cells (RBCs) and cause clinical disease in Duffy-negative people. The actual prevalence of P. vivax in local populations in Ghana is unknown. In addition, little information is available about the distribution of Duffy genotypes in Ghana. We determined the prevalence of P. vivax and the distribution of Duffy genotypes in Ghana. Methods DNA was extracted from dried blood spots (DBS) collected from 952 subjects (845 malaria patients and 107 asymptomatic persons) from nine locations in Ghana. Plasmodium species identification was carried out by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the small-subunit rRNA genes; P. vivax was further characterized by PCR analysis of the central region of the Pvcsp gene. Duffy blood group genotyping was performed by PCR with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) to detect the presence of the FYES allele. Results No cases of P. vivax were detected in any of the samples by both PCR methods used. Majority of infections (542, 94.8%) in the malaria patient samples were due to P. falciparum with only 1 infection (0.0017%) and 2 infections (0.0034%) due to P. malariae and P. ovale, respectively. No case of mixed infection was identified. Of the samples tested for the FYES allele from all the sites, 90.5% (862/952) had the FYES allele. All positive samples were genotyped as FY*B-33/FY*B-33 (Duffy-negative homozygous) and therefore classified as Fy(a-b-). Conclusions No cases of P. vivax were detected by both PCRs and 90.5% of the subjects tested carried the FYES allele. The lack of P. vivax infections observed can be attributed to the high frequency of the FYES allele that silences erythroid expression of the Duffy. These results provide insights on the host susceptibility for P. vivax infections that has before not been investigated in Ghana.