Goumballa N. auteur aut IRD Sambou M. auteur aut IRD Samba D. F. auteur aut IRD Bassene H. auteur aut IRD Bedotto M. auteur aut IRD Aidara A. auteur aut IRD Dieng M. auteur aut IRD Hoang V. T. auteur aut IRD Parola P. auteur aut IRD Sokhna Cheikh auteur aut IRD Gautret P. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Background: Respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and febrile illness are the most common complaints among ill pilgrims attending the Grand Magal of Touba (GMT) in Senegal. Methods: Patients presenting with respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms or febrile systemic illnesses were recruited between 2018 and 2021 at a healthcare centre close to Touba. Respiratory, gastrointestinal and blood samples were tested for potential pathogens using qPCR.Results: 538 patients were included. 45.5% of these were female, with a median age of 17 years. Of the 326 samples collected from patients with a cough, 62.8% tested positive for at least one virus, including influenza viruses (33.1%). A high positivity rate of bacterial carriage was observed for Haemophilus influenzae (72.7%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (51.2%) and Moraxella catarrhalis (46.0%). Of the 95 samples collected from patients with diarrhoea, 71.3% were positive, with high rates of bacterial carriage, ranging from 4.2% for Tropheryma whipplei to 45.3% for Entero-pathogenic Escherichia coli. Of the 141 blood samples collected from patients with fever, 31.9% were positive including Plasmodium falciparum (21.3%), Borrelia sp. (5.7%) and dengue virus (5.0%). Conclusion: This study provides insight into the aetiology of most common infections at the GMT on which to base therapeutic options. specialized Febrile systemic illness Gastrointestinal infections Grand Magal Patients PCR Respiratory infections SENEGAL 108 050 52 102515 [7 p.] 2023 1477-8939 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010086766 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102515 1477-8939 [F B010086766] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010086766 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2023-02/010086766.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2023-02-08 2026-06-12 fdi:010086766 fre