MRC Unit the Gambia

Hepatocellular carcinoma in the hepatitis B likely vaccinated and likely unvaccinated age groups in The Gambia: a prospective cohort study

The Gambia started Hepatitis B vaccination in July 1986 and achieved nationwide coverage in February 1990. However, not much is known about its effect on Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in The Gambia. We assess the differences in the features of HCC in both the Hepatitis B likely...

The Framework for Policy Decision on the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: the use of emerging data to inform global policy on the first malaria vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO)-coordinated Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) supported pilot introductions of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine by the ministries of health through the childhood immunization programmes in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi from 2019 through 2...

Genome-wide sequence analysis of malaria vectors reveals genetically isolated Anopheles coluzzii populations along the slopes of Mount Cameroon

Malaria remains a major public health burden in sub-Saharan Africa, sustained by genetically diverse Anopheles vectors. Mount Cameroon’s altitudinal gradient harbours Anopheles gambiae complex subpopulations and unravelling the population structure of these vectors could provide...

Antibiotic resistance profile of Staphylococcus aureus in pediatric cases from rural Gambia

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant public health concern worldwide. Despite its impact, surveillance systems for detecting AMR in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are often suboptimal. Using data from a population-based surveillance study of children aged < 5...

A qualitative study of the communication and information needs of parents of preterm Infants in a tertiary health facility in Northeast Nigeria

While the need for hospitalisation in preterm infants is a well-recognized source of stress and anxiety for most parents, the communication and informational needs of parents during this period remain vastly understudied in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to investigate the...

Post-tuberculosis lung disease in children and adolescents: Myth or reality – A narrative review

Childhood tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in high-burden settings, with Africa carrying a disproportionate share of incident and undiagnosed disease. A longstanding cure-centered paradigm has reinforced the notion that post-TB lung disease (PTLD...

Mucosal IgA to pre-fusion F protein predicts protection from RSV infection in a high burden setting

ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes over 100,000 annual deaths, predominantly in low-and middle-income countries, yet immunological correlates of protection remain poorly defined in high-burden settings. We conducted an intensively sampled prospective household coho...

Characterising recent antimalarial resistance in West Africa: Insights from amplicon sequencing of 17,384 Plasmodium falciparum infection samples

<ns5:p> Background <ns5:italic>Plasmodium falciparum</ns5:italic> ( <ns5:italic>P. falciparum</ns5:italic> ) infection remains a significant public health threat in West Africa, where chemoprevention and first-line therapies are key interventions against malaria. However, the dev...

Prevotella stercorea links gut microbiome ecology to respiratory infection protection through host-context-dependent, richness-independent associations

Using a longitudinal cohort of 633 Gambian children (IHAT-GUT, NCT02941081), we investigated two ecologically distinct pathways potentially linking Prevotella stercorea abundance to infection risk: a community-mediated pathway operating through overall gut microbiome richness, an...

Participant attrition in a multi-regional population-based study in Africa: insights from the AWI-Gen study

Attrition in longitudinal studies, defined as the loss of participants over time, may threaten the validity of study results. This study examined patterns, magnitude, and risk factors for attrition in the AWI-Gen cohort. The study included 12,032 participants from six African sit...