Bobo-dioulasso: In the packed amphitheater of the Institute of Health Sciences of Nazi Boni University (UNB), the scientific and medical world gathered to attend the PhD defense of Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga. He rigorously and passionately defended a research work that is unprecedented in Burkina Faso, and even extremely rare in Africa. His work focuses on a microscopic but formidable enemy: Aspergillus fumigatus, an opportunistic fungus that mercilessly attacks vulnerable people.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the result of several years of investigations carried out between the laboratories of Bobo-Dioulasso and those of Louvain, in Belgium, within the framework of a joint supervision between the Nazi Boni University (UNB) of Bobo-Dioulasso and the Free University of Brussels (ULB), this PhD thesis in Medical Sciences, specializing in Medical Parasitology, revealed for the first time the presence, on Burkinabe soil, of isolates of A. fumigatus resistant to triazoles, the first-line antifungals used in human medicine. The results are worrying: 2% of the soil samples and 3.23% of the hospital air analyzed contained these resistant strains.
This is a major public health issue that Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga has just highlighted. Although the general public often ignores its name, A. fumigatus is responsible for millions of cases of invasive aspergillosis worldwide each year. It is a lung infection that is often fatal in immunocompromised patients. Dr. Yerbanga's research shows that triazole resistance, already feared in Europe and Asia, is also taking hold in West Africa, with potentially dramatic consequences for hospital services.
"We have identified two types of mutations, including the famous TR34/L98H alteration of the cyp51A gene, known to confer formidable resistance to treatments," explains the young doctor, who already holds several university degrees. He points out that to date, in most African hospitals, no antifungal sensitivity tests are performed before prescribing treatment, which considerably reduces patients' chances of survival.
Already awarded the title of Doctor of Medicine in 2011 at the University of Ouagadougou, now Joseph-Ki-Zerbo University, with a thesis entitled Comparative study of the therapeutic efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and amodiaquine-artesunate combinations in Burkina Faso, Dr. Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga also holds an Inter-University Diploma (DIU) in Vaccinology (2016) and a Master's degree in Parasitology-Entomology-Mycology (2017) at INSSA/UNB.
Dr. Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga conducted her research under the supervision of Full Professor Sanata Bamba/Pakotogo of UNB. It was evaluated by a distinguished international jury composed of Full Professors Aboubacar Toguyeni (UNB, Chair), Marie Hallin (ULB, Member), Eby Ignace Herv© Menan (Universit© F©lix-Houphou«t-Boigny d'Abidjan, C´te d'Ivoire, Member) and Lassina Ouattara (UNB, Examiner).
The results presented represent undeniable advances for global science. In addition to this first national alert, Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga's thesis opens up concrete perspectives. It scientifically validates the use of a simple and inexpensive method-disk diffusion-to detect triazole resistance in Aspergillus species. This progress could revolutionize diagnosis in resource-limited countries.
The systematic reviews incorporated into his work also provide an unprecedented overview of invasive aspergillosis in Africa: an estimated prevalence of 27%, with a case fatality rate exceeding 60%. These alarming figures require urgent action by health authorities, the medical profession, and researchers.
The jury, composed of eminent Belgian, Burkinabe, and Ivorian academics, unanimously recognized the relevance of the theme and the scope of her research in the scientific and medical world. It hailed Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga's PhD thesis as an academic victory and a wake-up call.
Awarded the distinction of "Very Honorable," his work is much more than an academic achievement: it is a wake-up call for the need to adopt a "One Health" approach linking human health, animal health, and the environment, in order to curb the spread of these resistant strains that silently threaten modern medicine.
As he leaves the amphitheater, the new doctor of mycology does not feel he has triumphed alone: ??he carries with him the hope of all vulnerable patients in Burkina Faso and Africa. This is proof that African research can also shed light on the dark areas of global science.
Especially since Dr Wendki¨ta Isidore Yerbanga has been working for several years as a high-level professional in science and health, as Head of the Parasitology-Mycology section of the Biomedical Analysis Laboratory of the Regional University Hospital Center (CHUR) of Ouahigouya, and as a hospital-university teacher at the Bernard L©d©a Ou©draogo University in the same city.