Seroprevalence of yellow fever in Sahelian zones of Mali, 2016

Abstract

.Introduction. Yellow fever is an aedes born disease, frequently reported in the savannah regions of Mali, with mortality rates of up to 47%. Contrary to the savannah regions, cases of yellow fever are rarely reported in Mali's Sahelian localities. In a context of climate change, increased vectorial capacity of Aedes mosquitoes, and high population mobility due to armed conflicts, the yellow fever virus may be circulating in Mali's Sahelian localities. Objective. Estimate the yellow fever seroprevalence tree Sahelian regions of Mali: Diéma, Niono and Bandiagara. Method. We conducted a prospective and cross-sectional study in three Sahelian localities of Mali: Diéma, Niono and Bandiagara. During this study, we included 361 volunteers aged over 14 years, from whom we collected five millilitres of blood to perform the Virus Neutralisation test.
Results. Using the virus neutralization Test, we estimated yellow fever seroprevalence at 51.2 % in the Sahelian regions of Mali. In these localities, yellow fever seroprevalence was comparable between men and women: 52.1% for men versus 50.9% for women. We observed seroprevalence increased with age. Conclusion. Ours results suggest the strengthening of epidemiological surveillance of the yellow fever in Mali's Sahelian areas.