One of the presentations will show the results of a multicenter study conducted to identify pneumococci serotypes associated with pneumonia in children under the age of 5 years old in limited-resource countries.
Conducted from 2010 to 2014 as part of the GABRIEL research network created by the Mérieux Foundation, the study was carried out in 9 sites in 8 countries: Cambodia, China, Haiti, India, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia and Paraguay.
The study showed that more than half of the serotypes independently associated with pneumonia detected at the blood level are covered by the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), suggesting that expanding PCV13 vaccination coverage could reduce the burden of pneumococcal pneumonia in the countries participating in the study.
Presentation of the PEARL project on the study of the causes of pneumonia in Lebanon
The other oral presentation will communicate the preliminary results of PEARL (Pneumonias’ Etiology Among Refugees and Lebanese population), a study launched in Lebanon in 2016 by the Mérieux Foundation, which co-funds it with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
This study will evaluate the respective proportions of viral and bacterial pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia in refugee and Lebanese populations.
It will also provide an evidence base to evaluate epidemiological risks, design public health interventions and treatment algorithms for this important cause of morbidity and mortality in the context of a humanitarian crisis.
The Mérieux Foundation is also presenting three posters on the following themes:
- “Microevolution and fitness modulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposed to rifampicin”;
- “Contribution of whole-genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains to resistance detection: experience from a French center”;
- “Acute febrile illness surveillance in Madagascar: biomarker discovery for differentiation of bacterial and viral illnesses”