Anicet G. Dahourou

Background: Influenza is a major cause of acute respiratory infections worldwide. In tropical regions such as Sub‐Saharan Africa, influenza circulates year‐round with irregular peaks, yet genomic data guiding prevention strategies remain limited. This study characterized the genetic diversity and seasonal dynamics of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) viruses circulating in Burkina Faso in 2024. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted from January to December 2024, including seven sentinel surveillance sites. Patients presenting with influenza‐like illness or severe acute respiratory illness were enrolled. Respiratory specimens were tested by real‐time RT‐PCR. Influenza‐positive samples with a cycle threshold ≤ 30 underwent whole‐genome sequencing using Oxford Nanopore and Illumina platforms. Phylogenetic analyses and clade assignment were performed using MEGA Version 12. Results: Out of 2951 samples tested, 6.74% were positive for influenza viruses. Females had higher odds of influenza positivity than males (OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.11–1.98). A significantly higher risk of positivity was observed in the age groups of 5–15 years (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.07–2.52; p = 0.02) and 25–50 years (OR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.53–4.03; p < 0.001). Influenza A(H3N2) peaked in July, while A(H1N1)pdm09 peaked in October. Phylogenetic analysis of 43 genomes revealed co‐circulation of multiple clades within both subtypes. Conclusion: Influenza A viruses circulating in Burkina Faso in 2024 showed substantial genetic diversity, underscoring the need for continuous genomic surveillance to inform vaccine strain selection and public health strategies in tropical Africa.

Background: Standardising procedures is the best way to harmonise and strengthen the quality of laboratory-based antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Since 2018, Burkina Faso has developed and disseminated the national manual of procedures for performing antibiotic susceptibility tests in sentinel laboratories within its national antimicrobial resistance surveillance network. Objective: Our study aimed to assess these sentinel laboratories’ compliance with good practices for antibiotics susceptibility tests. Methods: Four teams evaluated the antimicrobial resistance sentinel sites laboratories throughout Burkina Faso from 19 to 28 September 2022. Eighteen out of 19 sentinel laboratories were evaluated. A four-member technical committee designed and validated the evaluation tool composed of three Microsoft Excel sheets. The evaluation emphasised quality controls for culture media, antibiotic discs and compliance with antimicrobial susceptibility testing procedures by the laboratories. Excel software was used for data recording and graphs and table design. The free R software version 4.2.0 was used for descriptive statistics. An overall score below 80% was considered noncompliance. Results: Most (83.33%) of the sentinel laboratories conducted at least one quality control activity for culture media, and 66.67% conducted at least one quality control activity for antibiotic discs. Over three-quarters (76.47%) of the laboratories were more than 80% compliant with the modified Kirby Bauer antimicrobial susceptibility testing method. Conclusion: The evaluation revealed the noncompliance of sentinel laboratories with the national procedure manual, particularly in the quality control component. What this study adds: This study has provided baseline data on the sentinel laboratories’ compliance with the national antimicrobial susceptibility testing procedures manual, particularly in areas performing quality control checks or meeting quality indicators for culture media and antibiotic discs.