Dengue is now a major health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the influence of local meteorological factors on the incidence of dengue is an important element for better prediction and control of this disease. This study aims to assess the impact of meteorological factors on dengue transmission in the central region of Burkina Faso. We analyzed the lagged effects of meteorological factors on the weekly incidence of dengue from 2017 to 2019 in the central region of Burkina Faso using a General Additive Model. The results show that maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed have a significant non-linear effect on dengue cases in the region with 83% of case variance explained. The optimal temperature that increases dengue cases was 27°C to 32°C for the maximum temperature and 18°C to 20°C for the minimum temperature with a decrease beyond that. The maximum temperature shifted by six weeks had the best correlation with dengue incidence. The estimated number of dengue cases increases as the maximum relative humidity increases from 15 to 45% and then from 60 to 70%. In general, an increase in daily wind speed is estimated to decrease the number of daily dengue cases. The relationship between rainfall and dengue cases was not significant. This study provides local information about the effect of meteorological factors on dengue that should help improve predictive models of dengue cases in Burkina Faso and contribute to the control of this disease.

The SD Bioline Dengue Duo rapid diagnostic test is the primary means of diagnostic guidance for dengue and in many cases the only one in Burkina Faso. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of this test during the 2017 dengue epidemic. By analysing data from samples during the 2017 dengue epidemic in Burkina Faso for which both rapid test and Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and, or Immunoglobulin M capture by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay results were available, the rapid diagnostic test was compared to Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and, or Immunoglobulin M detection by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests were calculated and their overall performance was evaluated by the area under the curve. Out of 706 suspected patients, 514 or 72.8% were confirmed by the reference techniques. The positivity rates were 69%, 19% and 26% respectively for NS1 antigen, Immunoglobulin M antibody and Immunoglobulin G antibody. The rapid diagnostic test had a very good sensitivity of 99% for a specificity of 5%. The detection of NS1 antigen by rapid diagnostic test showed the best compromise, with an area under the curve of 0.7. Considering only the results of the NS1 Antigen, the rapid diagnostic test could be a viable solution for the management of dengue epidemics in health centers without a laboratory.