[Major sickle cell syndromes and infections associated with this condition in children in Burkina Faso].

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate infections in children with major sickle cell syndrome.

METHODS: We conducted a monocentric descriptive retrospective hospital study in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, over a ten-year period. All children with major sickle cell syndrome (homozygous SS and double heterozygous SC, SDPunjab, Sβ thalassemic, SOArab and SE) hospitalized for microbiologically confirmed infections were enrolled in the study.

RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-three patients met our inclusion criteria. The SS phenotype accounted for 63.2% of cases and SC 36.8%. The frequency of infections was 21.8%. In 45.9% of cases, these affected children aged 0-5 years. The most frequent signs were osteoarticular pain (42.1%), cough (25.7%), abdominal pain (23.3%), pallor (43.6%). The major diagnoses were bronchopneumonia (31.6%), malaria (16.5%), osteomyelitis (12.8%) and septicemia (10.5%). The isolated pathogenic organisms were Streptococcus pneumoniae (35.5%) and Salmonella spp (33.3%). Third generation cephalosporins were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Gros mortality rate was 7.5%.

CONCLUSION: Bacterial infections and malaria dominate the clinical picture of infections in children with major sickle cell syndrome at the at the Pediatrics University Hospital Center Charles De-Gaulle. This study highlights the importance of establishing a national program for the management of sickle-cell anemia, which could help prevent or reduce the occurrence of infections in children with sickle cell syndrome.