Ebola virus is one of the most dangerous human pathogens and is an emerging public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976. The current epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the largest and most complex ever recorded, and is not yet under control: a new death has been reported on April 10th, 2020. The epidemic was declared a public health emergency of international scope by the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 17th, 2019. Two studies are the "standard" in the assessment of the consequences of infection in survivors, in Liberia (PREVAIL) and Guinea (PostEbogui), especially in: * The observation of comparable mortality rates, even if over time there was an improvement in survival, probably linked to the improvement in the quality of care and symptomatic treatment; * And the study of the contacts of the survivors, between 4 to 10% of them had done seroconversion with regard to Ebola virus (EBOV) in an asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic way and that this rate varied according to the degree of exposure to the risk. The DRC's experience in this area and the enormous progress made in the fight against Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), therapeutically and preventively (where much of which patients have benefited from antiviral treatment or monoclonal antibodies), the technological responses (real-time sequencing of Ebola strains in new cases, vaccination or the use of individual isolation units), show the limits of their effectiveness. A large number of questions therefore remain unanswered: * The antibody profile of the survivors, in particular the repertoire of immunoglobulin G (IgG) specific to these individuals and its correlation with survival and its evolution over time; * The impact of treatments initiated during the acute phase on these immune abnormalities; * Finally, genetic factors linked to the host could play an important role in the response to the Ebola virus. The aim of this study is to provide a better overall understanding of Ebola virus infection and its clinical, virological, and immunological consequences, of cured people and their contacts; strengthen multidisciplinary monitoring of patients after an acute phase of EVD. The results will therefore have a direct impact on the clinical management of this population and on the prevention of possible secondary contamination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
787
Beni Hospital
Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mangina Hospital
Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Butembo Hospital
Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mambasa Hospital
Mambasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cured-participant population co-infections
Frequencies of co-infections (human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus)
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
Cured-participant population co-morbidities at any time in the study
Frequencies of co-morbidities including severity
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 3, month 6, month 9, month 12, month 18
Evolution over time of clinical consequences in cured participants
Sequelae of EVD in cured participants and their evolution according to clinical characteristics and received treatment during hospitalisation.
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 3, month 6, month 9, month 12, month 18
Evolution over time of immunological consequences in cured participants
Proportion and evolution of IgG subclasses against nucleoprotein, VP40 and glycoprotein from isolates Mayinga1976 and Kissidougou-Makona2014.
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Evolution over time of virological consequences in cured participants
Evolution of EBOV virus identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in biological samples (blood, urine, feces, saliva, tears, breast milk (breastfeeding women), genital secretions (women aged 15 and over) and sperm (men aged 15 and over)).
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 3, month 6, month 9, month 12, month 18
Description of contact-participants Ebola-virus-exposure risk
Description of exposure to the confirmed index case (duration and repetition of exposure, possible protection used, state of contagiousness of the confirmed index case including clinical condition and viremia), prevalence of EVD (living or deceased, with whom the subject was in contact), vaccination status against EVD.
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
Asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic Ebola infections in contact participants (clinical assessment)
Clinical assessment for EBOV infection since contact exposure to EVD patient.
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
Asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic Ebola infections in contact participants (immunological assessment)
Titration of IgG subclasses against nucleoprotein, VP40 and glycoprotein.
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
Asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic Ebola infections in contact participants (virological assessment)
Presence of Ebola virus identified by PCR in biological samples (blood, urine, feces, saliva, tears, breast milk (breastfeeding women), genital secretions and sperm (men aged 15 and over)).
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
Evolution over time of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in cured and contact participants (cellular immunological sub-study)
Phenotypic characterization and activation status of the different cell populations within PBMC (T cells, B cells, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, etc.) by flow cytometry
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Evolution over time of concentration of immune response analytes in cured and contact participants (cellular immunological sub-study)
Titration of analytes involved in immune responses (using Luminex technology)
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Evolution over time of EBOV-specific T responses in cured and contact participants (cellular immunological sub-study)
EBOV-specific T responses after stimulation of cells by flow cytometry
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Evolution over time of gene-expression profile in cured and contact participants (cellular immunological sub-study)
Analysis of gene-expression profile in whole blood using Ilumina technology
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Evolution over time of genetic heterogeneity in cured and contact participants (cellular immunological sub-study)
Single-cell analysis to evaluate cellular genetic heterogeneity in cell population.
Time frame: Baseline (BL), month 6, month 12
Genetic sub-study in cured and contact participants
Research of genetic variants implied in EBOV-infection response.
Time frame: Baseline (BL)
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