Joint Inserm & ALIMA field mission in Chad to launch a new study testing the feasibility of a new rapid test for Cryptosporidium in children consulting for diarrhoea in outpatient health centres

Susan SHEPHERD (ALIMA) and Renaud BECQUET spent two weeks in the field in May 2018 in N’Djamena, Chad to launch the Prev’Crypto study.

Diarrhoea is responsible for about 10% of the overall mortality of children under five. Carrying the Cryptosporidium parasite in the stool appears to be a major cause of diarrheal child mortality in Chad, especially among those suffering from acute malnutrition. The identification of Cryptosporidium diarrhoea must ideally be made at the early stages of the disease, during the outpatient management of children. Chad fulfils the epidemiological conditions for the implementation of a clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of treatments targeting Cryptosporidium diarrhoea. Before conducting such a clinical trial, it should first be demonstrated that it is possible to easily detect the carriage of Cryptosporidium in children with diarrhoea. It is also essential to know the epidemiology of the carriage of this parasite, both in malnourished and non-malnourished children.

Typical daily flow of patients at N’Djari health facility.

The objectives of the Prev’Crypto study are to study feasibility conditions of the introduction of a new rapid diagnostic test for Cryptosporidium detection in stools and to measure the prevalence of Cryptosporidium diarrhoea in malnourished and non-malnourished children aged 6 to 24 months who consult for diarrhoea in outpatient health centres. A total of 600 stool specimens will be collected during the course of this study, at two health facilities in N’Djamena (Hilleoudjadj and N’Djari). This study will be supervised in the field until August 2018 by Sarah MONROE, as part of her ongoing Master internship (Master Santé Publique, parcours Santé Internationale).