Vivi Maketa

University of Kinshasa | UNIKIN · Faculty of Medicine

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) struggles with low full childhood vaccination coverage (around 50 %) and a high children-under-five mortality rate (79 deaths per 1000 live births). This situation is potentially exacerbated by vaccine hesitancy, which was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 global health...

This study explored the experiences of healthcare providers (HCPs) and frontline workers who were involved in an Ebola vaccine trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The researchers interviewed a total of 99 participants (HCPs and frontline workers) living and working in the Boende health district during the period of the study, from Februa...

Introduction Clear guidelines to implement ancillary care (AC) in clinical trials conducted in resource-constrained settings are lacking. Here, we evaluate an AC policy developed for a vaccine trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and formulate policy recommendations. Methods To evaluate the AC policy, we performed a longitudinal cohort st...

These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate scientific evidence of the benefit of the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) on the birth weight of newborns and the hemoglobin level of the mother when used to prevent malaria during pregnancy. This cross-sectional...

Background: Waterborne diseases pose a significant global public health threat, compelling enhanced comprehensive surveillance. This study investigates the current infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance systems, including wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES), in three sub-Saharan African countries: Tanzania, B...

Background: Waterborne diseases pose a significant global public health threat, compelling enhanced comprehensive surveillance. This study investigates the current infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance systems, including wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES), in three sub-Saharan African countries: Tanzania, B...

Background Low peripheral parasitemia caused by sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum in the placenta hampers the diagnosis of malaria in pregnant women, leading to microscopy or conventional rapid diagnostic tests (co-RDTs) false-negative results. Although mainly asymptomatic, maternal malaria remains harmful to pregnant women and their offspring...

BACKGROUND Iris scanning, as a means of human biometric recognition, has been increasingly deployed over the last decade and continues to improve and expand. To better understand the acceptability of this technology, we report the long-term experiences of healthcare provider (HCP) and frontline worker participants with iris scanning as an identific...

Background Low peripheral parasitaemia caused by sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum in the placenta hampers the diagnosis of malaria in pregnant women, leading to microscopy or conventional rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) false-negative results. Although mainly asymptomatic, maternal malaria remains harmful to pregnant women and their offspring i...

In this paper, we discuss challenges associated with implementing a policy for Ancillary Care (AC) for related and unrelated (serious) adverse events during an Ebola vaccine trial conducted in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conducting clinical trials in resourceconstrained settings can raise context-related challenges that h...

Introduction A serosurvey among health care providers (HCPs) and frontliners of an area previously affected by Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was conducted to assess the seroreactivity to Ebola virus antigens. Methods Serum samples were collected in a cohort of HCPs and frontliners (n = 698) participants in...

Background In response to recent Ebola epidemics, vaccine development against the Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) has been fast-tracked in the past decade. Healthcare providers and frontliners working in Ebola endemic areas are at high risk of contracting and spreading the virus. Methods This study assessed the safety and immunogenicity of the 2-dose hete...

Background Malaria morbidity and mortality increase in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may be the consequence of the low utilization rate of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) resulting from poor compliance due to adverse events (AEs). This study aimed at determining the prevalence and predictors of AEs following the mass distributio...

Introduction A serosurvey among health care providers (HCPs) and frontliners of an area previously affected by Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was conducted to assess the seroreactivity to Ebola virus antigens. Methods Serum samples were collected in a cohort of HCPs and frontliners (n=698) participants in t...

Background The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second most malaria-affected country in the world with 21,608,681 cases reported in 2019. The Kongo Central (KC) Province has a malaria annual incidence of 163 cases/per 1000 inhabitants which are close to the national average of 153.4/1000. However, the malaria prevalence varies both bet...

Background Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is an important malaria control strategy in sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, it overcomes the risk of misdiagnosis due to low peripheral parasitemia during pregnancy by treating women with SP on predetermined schedules. However, over time, the spread of...

Background Ethics review preparedness is a major foundation for national effective response to public health emergencies, because it promotes pertinent research and enhances the protection of research participants and communities. In low‐income countries, it can also promote equitable research partnership. However, most relevant literature is in En...

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) can sequester in the placenta resulting in low density of peripheral parasitemia and consequently in false negative malaria diagnosis (by microscopy) in pregnant women. Moreover, the use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in diagnostic strategies, including those for the detection of a malaria infection...

Background Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) is an important malaria control strategy in sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed it overcomes the risk of misdiagnosis due to low peripheral parasitemia during pregnancy by treating women with SP on predetermined schedules. However, over time, the spread of P...

Since the largest Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2013–2016) highlighted the potential threat of the Ebola virus to the world, several vaccines have been under development by different pharmaceutical companies. To obtain vaccine licensure, vaccine trials assessing the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of new vaccines among different populations (e...

Introduction The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the second most malaria-affected country globally with 21,608,681 cases reported in 2019. The Kongo Central (KC) Province has a malaria annual incidence of 163 cases/per 1000 inhabitants which are close to the national average of 153.4/1000. However, the malaria prevalence varies both between a...

Introduction This article describes the protocol of an Ebola vaccine clinical trial which investigates the safety and immunogenicity of a two-dose prophylactic Ebola vaccine regimen comprised of two Ebola vaccines (Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo) administered 56 days apart, followed by a booster vaccination with Ad26.ZEBOV offered at either 1 year or 2...

Implementing an Ebola vaccine trial in a remote area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and being confronted with a dysfunctional health care system and acute unmet health needs of participants, ethical considerations were made regarding the ancillary care obligations of the sponsor and researchers. Spurred by the occurrence of non-rela...

BACKGROUND As part of an Ebola outbreak preparedness initiative, a partnership between the University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa, through an Innovative Medicines Initiative-European Union (project ‘EBOVAC 3’), implemented a clinical trial on an Ebola vaccine regimen to be administered to health care provider participants (HCP-P) in T...

Background A partnership between the University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa implemented the EBOVAC3 clinical trial with an Ebola vaccine regimen administered to health care provider participants in Tshuapa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This randomized controlled trial was part of an Ebola outbreak preparedness initiative...

Biosafety, as a set of measures to prevent laboratory acquired infections, has been recommended for more than fifty years. Indeed, since that time, evidence of contamination of laboratory workers has been provided in several articles. Are these measures known and applied in laboratories in Kinshasa, this was the question to what this study tried to...

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) End Tuberculosis Strategy calls for a 90% reduction in tuberculosis (TB) deaths and an 80% reduction in the incidence rate between 2015 and 2035. The 2018 WHO guidelines recognize the need for high-burden countries to implement outreach and treatment for the most vulnerable patients with latent TB infe...

Background In the Democratic Republic of Congo, artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) is the first-line medication recommended for uncomplicated malaria treatment. We conducted a study in Kinshasa to describe the clinical features of the disease and assess the efficacy of ASAQ and its impact on the multiplicity of infection in children with uncomplicated m...

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Quinact protocol. (PDF)

Quinact protocol published in Trials Journal. (PDF)

Introduction: in sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of persons with epilepsy who seek traditional treatment is estimated at 80%. Despite that children are the firsts concerned by epilepsy, the characteristics and particularities of the children with epilepsy (CWE) who resort to traditional treatment are not known. The aim of this pilot study was to...

In medical research, the ethical principle of respect for persons is operationalized into the process of informed consent. The consent tools should be contextualized and adapted to the different socio-cultural environment, especially when research crosses the traditional boundaries and reaches poor communities. We look at the challenges experienced...

Background In the Democratic Republic of Congo, artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) are recommended as first line treatment, but ASAQ is commonly used. We describe malaria features in Kinshasa and also constitute a cohort for a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to assess efficacy of ASAQ, AL and quinine + clindamycin as rescu...

In medical research, the ethical principle of respect for persons is operationalized into the process of informed consent. The consent tools should be contextualized and adapted to the different socio‐cultural environment, especially when research crosses the traditional boundaries and reaches poor communities. We look at the challenges experienced...

Background: Malaria is preventable and treatable when recommended interventions are properly implemented. Thus, diagnosis and treatment focus on symptomatic individuals while asymptomatic Plasmodium infection (PI) plays a role in the sustainability of the transmission and may also have an impact on the morbidity of the disease in terms of anaemia,...

Objective: To evaluate onchocerciasis control activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the first 12 years of community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI). Methods: Data from the National Programme for Onchocerciasis (NPO) provided by the National Onchocerciasis Task Force (NOTF) through the annual reports of the 21 CDTI pro...

Background The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the five countries carrying half of global malaria burden with children 0–5 years old being most at risk. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are currently routinely used for the detection of Plasmodium infection in health centres and may be a useful tool for population-based survey. Method...

In Democratic Republic of Congo access to health care is limited because of many geographical and financial barriers, while quality of care is often low. Global health donors assist the country with a number of community-oriented interventions such as free distribution of bednets, antihelminthic drugs, vitamin A supplementation and vaccination camp...

In 2010, there was an estimated 216 million episodes of malaria, of which approximately 81%, or 174 million cases occurred in the African region. Moreover, the estimated number of deaths due to malaria was 655 000, of which 91% still took place in Africa. Yet, results of effective intervention studies suggest that the true number could even be high...

In endemic countries with limited resources, diagnosis of malaria is often based on clinical signs while the method is quite unreliable. Nowadays, parasitological confirmation through microscopy or malaria rapid diagnostic test (MRDT) is currently recommended for each suspected case. In the field, many obstacles are found for the accurate use of mi...

Introduction Several rapid tests are marketed for malaria diagnosis. The detection of low parasitemia is one of criteria for a good rapid test, although in high transmission areas people may carry parasites at a certain level without being ill. This study aims to determine the discrimination level of parasite density between symptomatic and non sym...

Introduction The diagnosis of malaria is a significant challenge in resource-limited nations. The current standard method for determining whether a patient has malaria is to carry out a peripheral blood examination using a Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood film smears. This test requires a laboratory setting with a trained microscopist for accura...

Cysticercosis, caused by Taenia solium eggs, is a zoonotic disease whose consequences can be severe especially in the cerebral localisation (neuorcysticercosis). Indeed, neurocysticercosis is the first cause of epilepsy amongst the infectious etiology group. Following the increase of epilepsy cases in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo, it was important to ass...

Taenia solium, a zoonotic parasite that is endemic in most developing countries where pork is consumed, is recognised as the main cause of acquired epilepsy in these regions. T. solium has been reported in almost all of the neighboring countries of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but data on the current prevalence of the disease in the country i...

The globalization of clinical trials, as well as the creation of funding mechanisms for research addressing the health problems of developing countries, have led to a significant increase in the number of research projects in the South. This paper reports on a workshop held by the Switching the Pole Network in Antwerp in December 2008 to assess the...

In medical research, the ethical principle of respect for persons is operationalized into the process of informed consent. The consent tools should be contextualized and adapted to the different socio-cultural environment , especially when research crosses the traditional boundaries and reaches poor communities. We look at the challenges experience...