The first novel coronavirus case was reported on December 2019, in Wuhan, China (Xu et al., 2020), named by WHO as SARS-CoV2 and the causing disease as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID2019). The genome sequence revealed that the virus is belongs to the beta-coronavirus group, sharing ancestry with bat coronavirus HKU9-1, similar to SARS-coronaviruses.1 The number of cases has increased within few weeks, and later spread beyond the China border.2 The epidemic of COVID-19 began in Africa later than other regions globally, perhaps, because of the limited international air traffic, rather than the climate conditions. In Africa, the first cases were reported in early March 2020 in Egypt, followed by Algeria, and Sudan.3 Sudan is located in the north-eastern Africa it occupies 1.882.000 million km square, making it third-largest country in Africa, and 16th in the world, with a population of over 40 million people.4 and Khartoum is the capital which is the main international air travel hub. Khartoum is considered the epi centre of majority of reported and imported COVID-19 cases. In this letter we describe the impact of COVID 19 in Sudan; highlighting the response towards COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges towards possible control and prevention the outbreak

Case-based surveillance measles data was defined according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. A total of 511 measles cases were studied from 2011 to 2015 in Southern Darfur State, Sudan and 58.1% of cases were confirmed from Nyala city. About 43.4% of cases were males, 56.6% of cases were female, and 47.7% were children under five years old. Similarity, within February to June, the cases increased by 8.0% in children vaccinated through measles campaign, and 5.3% in children that used child vaccination card and 78.7% in unvaccinated one. The epidemiologically linked (EPI-Linked) measles cases declined from 2011 to 2015; consequently, Measles still remain to be a significant challenge in south Darfur state, Sudan.

Bilharziasis is a tropical parasitic disease caused by different species of the genus Schistosoma. One species, S. haematobium, is widely spread in Sudan. There is a scarcity of information about S. haematobium infection among the fishermen in the country. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of S. haematobium infection among fishermen, and the immune status among non-infected fishermen in two villages, El Hadib and Hawer-Ajowel at the White Nile state in Sudan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 119 fishermen in addition to 20 samples from non-endemic area which were included as a control group. Urine samples were examined by sedimentation method and faecal samples were examined by the Kato Katz method and formalin-ether concentration technique. Blood samples were examined for enumeration of IgE antibody and cytokines, interferon Gamma (IFN-γ), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interleukin10 (IL–10) levels using ELISA. The result of the study indicated that the overall prevalence of S. haematobium among the fishermen was 35 (29.41 %). Of the 35 positive participants, 23 (65.71 %) were infected for the first time, and 12 (34.29 %) for the second time (re-infection). Twenty-four candidates of the non-infected fishermen were included in the immunological study. The total IgE mean titer was 282.90 ±70.93 iu/ml, IFN-γ mean level was 9.62±4.60 pg/ml. TNF, 114.64±46.63 pg/ml and the IL–10 was 1.51±0.58 pg/ml. High prevalence of S. haematobium exists among fishermen and the non-infected fishermen from the endemic area showed high immune response similar to those exposed to the infection.
Cytokines ; Allergy and Immunology ; Sudan

This study sought to determine the prevalence of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavities of children with cancer. There were 68 paediatric patients with cancer who were included in this study. Oral swab samples from the dorsum of tongues and mouth floors of these patients were subjected to culture, staining, and molecular methods to detect the bacteria. The overall prevalence of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was 79.4% (54/68; 95% CI = 68.4 – 87.3) and 25% (17/68; 95% CI = 16.2 – 36.4), respectively. Streptococcus salivarius and Streptococcus parasanguinis were the predominant pathogenic grampositive bacteria, while Neisseria subflava and Neisseria perflava were the most common pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. The results revealed that the number of bacteria isolates recovered in patients receiving cancer treatment was higher (55.9%) than those who had not received treatment (16.2%). Therefore, more isolated pathogenic bacteria were observed post-therapy (54.4%). Pathogenic organisms can have significant implications on patient health. Awareness of the types of bacteria inhabiting the oral cavity is essential to predict and prevent dental problems, and their associated systemic complications. Findings on the diversity of oral microflora can also provide a better understanding of the aetiology of oral diseases in paediatric patients receiving cancer treatment.

Aims: Mobile phones are used extensively by healthcare workers (HCWs) who are unaware of the amount of contamination these phones carry and act as reservoirs for organisms causing hospital-acquired infections. This investigation was aimed to find the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination and antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolates from HCW’s cellphones. Methodology and results: This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. A total of 120 samples were isolated from HCWs’ cellphones and subjected to culture and sensitivity as per the standard guidelines. Five (18.1%) out of 120 collected samples were from 11 lab technicians’ phones and were positive for S. aureus and 6.25% were obtained from 48 nurses’ cellphone swabs. Conclusion, significance and impact of study The findings of this study reveal that HCWs’ cellphones could be apossible source of infection since a high prevalence of MRSA was found on lab technicians and nurse cellphone sample swabs. On the other hand, all S. aureus isolates were resistant to methicillin and ceftazidime. Also, no significant relationship between the prevalence of MRSA was detected.