AFRAVIH

From April 16 to 19, 2024, the 12th AFRAVIH International Francophone Conference took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Established in 2009, AFRAVIH aims to unite health professionals and stakeholders from various communities involved in the fight against HIV in francophone countries. Over the years, AFRAVIH has broadened its focus to include viral hepatitis and, more generally, chronic and emerging viral infections, which represent a significant global health challenge for infectious diseases.

During this event, Dr. Avelin AGHOKENG (DR, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo) and Prof. Sophie TROUILLET-ASSANT (CHU de Lyon, Lyon, France) presented the talk titled, ‘Intérêt d’un test universel pour la détection des infections causées par les virus conventionnels, émergents et ré-émergents.’ The objective was to showcase the work already done on the IFN-I response and respiratory viral infections, as well as the research programs of the REVIDA Chair on host response as a marker for respiratory infections. This included the collection of nasopharyngeal swabs at the Hospices Civils de Lyon and potential extension of the study in Republic of the Congo. A secondary objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the IFN-I blood score as a marker for undiagnosed viral infections in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), particularly in high-risk settings for emerging viruses.