Introduction despite increasing research interest on Indigenous peoples´ health worldwide, the nu... more Introduction despite increasing research interest on Indigenous peoples´ health worldwide, the nutritional status of Indigenous children in Cameroon remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among under-five Indigenous Mbororo children in the Foumban and Galim health districts of the West Region. Methods a cross-sectional study was conducted involving 472 child-caregiver pairs from 16 Mbororo Communities in the Foumban and Galim health districts. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Anthropometric measurements were collected using standard procedures. Socio-demographic data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Anthropometric indices: height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age - z-scores were analyzed using z-score 06 Stata version 11 and compared with World Health Organization growth reference standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences ...
Urinary tract infections occur more frequently in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients and have... more Urinary tract infections occur more frequently in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients and have been proven to be the primary cause of renal failure in diabetics. This study was to investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in clinically diagnosed patients with diabetes and to determine the uropathogens responsible for ASB and UTIs as well as their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. One hundred and twenty five diabetic patients comprising 69 (55.2%) females and 56 (44.8%) males attending the Buea and Limbe Regional Hospital Diabetic Clinics, South West Region, Cameroon were studied. Midstream urine samples were collected from the study participants. The midstream urine samples were examined macroscopically, microscopically, and culturally using standard techniques on different agar cultures. Uropathogens isolated included E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, Pr...
The Rhesus blood group is the second most clinically significant blood group system after the ABO... more The Rhesus blood group is the second most clinically significant blood group system after the ABO. Like the ABO blood group system, the distribution of the Rhesus antigens varies from one population to another. A cross sectional study was designed to determine the distribution of the ABO and Rhesus antigens, as well as irregular antibodies against Rhesus antigens in the study area. The ABO and Rhesus blood groups were determined by the use of monoclonal antibodies and irregular antibodies were determined by detection of anti-human globulin on washed red blood cells. Of the 126 participants, O (44.44%) was the most prevalent ABO blood group followed by A (31.7%), B (17.46%) and AB (6.34%). 118 (93.65%) of the 126 participants were Rhesus-D positive and only 8 (6.35%) were Rhesus-D negative. The distribution of the other Rhesus antigens in decreasing order of prevalence were c (99.21%), e (95.24%), E (31.75%) and C (14.28%). ccDee (57.15%) was the most prevalent Rhesus phenotype while...
Background: Malaria is a major public health problem among children less than 5years in urban set... more Background: Malaria is a major public health problem among children less than 5years in urban settings of Sub Saharan Africa including Cameroon. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of mothers of under-five children on malaria prevention in a resource-limited urban setting in the city of Douala. Methods: A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data in a KAP cross section study on malaria prevention among caregivers of under- five. A cluster sampling method was used and data was analyzed on SPSS. Results: 92 mothers or caregivers of children below 5years were surveyed in Bepanda quarter of Douala. Majority of the respondents [45(48.91%)] were young women in the 25-29 age bracket. 90(97.85%) women knew that malaria is caused by mosquito bites. Predisposition factors to malaria among children included poor home hygiene [34 (36.96%)], presence of stagnate water near dwellings [28(30.43%)] and open windows and d...
Objective: Baseline titres for somatic and flagella (O and H) antibodies should be established in... more Objective: Baseline titres for somatic and flagella (O and H) antibodies should be established in every community to avoid false positive results with the Widal test given that a proportion of healthy individuals have antibodies capable of reacting at variable titres. The objective of this study was to determine baseline antibody titres for the Widal test in the Buea Health District. Background : A cross sectional study was carried out involving 150 participants (100 patients and 50 controls). Blood and stool samples were collected from patients presenting with symptoms of typhoid at the Buea Regional Hospital. Widal tests were run for the blood samples while the stool samples were cultured for Salmonella species. Results: Out of 100 patients, 21 (21%) were culture-positive for Salmonella . None of the control members was culture-positive. Among the culture positive cases, 17 were positive with the Widal tube test among whom 13 (76.5%) had anti-O antibody titre =1/160 and 16 (94.1%)...
Candidiasis which is one of the most common opportunistic infection in HIV is caused by Candida s... more Candidiasis which is one of the most common opportunistic infection in HIV is caused by Candida species that vary with respect to their epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility. This study was designed to determine the distribution and antifungal susceptibility pattern in HIV patients in Cameroon. Oropharyngeal and urine specimens were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar. Speciation was achieved by the germ tube and sugar assimilation tests, and antifungal sensitivity test was performed using a commercially available test kit. 138 (66.67%) of the 207 participants had candidiasis. Among them, oropharyngeal colonisation 122 (81.2%) was significantly (P = 0.0003) higher than urinary colonisation 26 (18.8%). Candida albicans was the most predominant species isolated. The prevalence of candidiasis was significantly (P = 0.0002) higher among patients who were not on HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral therapy) (82.7%) than in patients on HAART (56.4%). No significant association was obs...
Onchocerciasis is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness affecting over 37 million peo... more Onchocerciasis is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness affecting over 37 million people of which 99% are in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of onchocerciasis in the Fundong Health District, a locality where community-directed treatment with ivermectin has been carried out for 6 consecutive years. Questionnaires covering participants' identity, Rapid Epidemiological Assessment (REA) for onchocerciasis and parasitological parameters were distributed to participants. Skin snip (SS) was collected for laboratory investigation. A total of 404 participants belonging to 200 households were randomly selected from the Fundong Health District, of which 134 (33.2%) were males and 270(66.8%) were females, 14 (3.5%) had microfilaredermia and 15(3.7%) had nodules. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of microfilaredermia with respect to age of participants (X(2)=2.749, P=0.601). There was however a statistically significant differ...
Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread of all human parasitic diseases and is a serious he... more Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread of all human parasitic diseases and is a serious health problem in Cameroon despite tremendous efforts by health authorities. The purpose of this study was to determine community knowledge of the infection in order to evaluate control programmes put in place. A random sampling method was used to administer questionnaires to 3200 individuals in 80 communities throughout the ten regions of the country. Globally the percentage of persons with good knowledge of schistosomiasis was low (28.8%). Of the 2586 who responded 1311 (50.7%) were females and 1275 (49.3%) were males. There was a statistically significant difference in the community knowledge pattern by gender (chi2 = 157.28, P < 0.05), and persons with good knowledge were more frequent among males than females (61.8% vs. 38.2% P < 0.05). The percentage of people who had good knowledge about the disease was highest in the Far North region (35.4), followed by the North (33.8) and t...
To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as dia... more To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as diagnostic tools for Streptococcus agalactiae carriage in pregnancy. Observational, analytical case-control study. Hospital-based study in a primary and a tertiary health care institution. One hundred and six pregnant and 56 non-pregnant (controls) women were included in the study. The participants were of different socio-economic status. A volunteer sample was used. About 800 subjects were contacted and 162 participated in the study. The sensitivity of the screening test varied from 25% for the CAMP test to 77.78% for the hippurate hydrolysis reaction. The specificity was the same for both tests at (50%). A significant difference in positivity between the CAMP and hippurate hydrolysis reactions (95% confidence limit, P < 0.05) was observed. The predictive values of the positive test were 66.6% (CAMP) and 87.55% (hippurate hydrolysis) while the negative test were 14.29% (CAMP) and 33.30%...
Out of the 14 organisms isolated from the endocervix of pregnant and non-pregnant women, Lactobac... more Out of the 14 organisms isolated from the endocervix of pregnant and non-pregnant women, Lactobacillus species had the highest prevalence rates of 18.33%, 20.0% respectively, followed by Candida species (6.67%, 20.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (13.33%, 11.43%) and Staphylococcus pyogenes (11.67%, 11.43%). From the anorectum, the most prevalent were Streptococcus agalatiae, Streptococcus mutans and Candida species with prevalence rates of20.0% among the pregnant women and 14.29% for the non-pregnant women.Hormone based contraceptives (i.e. oral contraceptive and injection) do have a positive influence on the growth and survival of microorganism more than the physical barrier contraceptives (i.e. condoms and intrauterine device). Antibiotic intake prior to the study affected negatively the growth and survival of microorganisms in the endocervix, but not the age of pregnancy. As a result of the numerous types of microorganisms growing in the endocervix and the anorectum of both pregnant a...
International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health
Background: Vaccination is what is strongly recommended in protecting against childhood diseases.... more Background: Vaccination is what is strongly recommended in protecting against childhood diseases. The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) in Cameroon started in 1976 as a pilot project and became operational all over the country in 1982 where vaccination is seen a fundamental right of every child in the country. However, rural areas have lots of constrains to the effective implementation of vaccination programs some of which are population-related. Purpose: This study aimed to assess the association between some factors and adherence to vaccination appointments in Ngambe Health District; a typical rural health district in Cameroon. Methods: This was a case control study where the vaccination records of health facilities in the district were reviewed and parents who respected their vaccination appointments formed the controls while those who missed a vaccination appointment were the cases. They were then traced for interviewed and data analyzed using Epi infos version 3.5.4. Resul...
Introduction despite increasing research interest on Indigenous peoples´ health worldwide, the nu... more Introduction despite increasing research interest on Indigenous peoples´ health worldwide, the nutritional status of Indigenous children in Cameroon remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among under-five Indigenous Mbororo children in the Foumban and Galim health districts of the West Region. Methods a cross-sectional study was conducted involving 472 child-caregiver pairs from 16 Mbororo Communities in the Foumban and Galim health districts. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Anthropometric measurements were collected using standard procedures. Socio-demographic data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Anthropometric indices: height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age - z-scores were analyzed using z-score 06 Stata version 11 and compared with World Health Organization growth reference standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences ...
Urinary tract infections occur more frequently in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients and have... more Urinary tract infections occur more frequently in diabetic than in non-diabetic patients and have been proven to be the primary cause of renal failure in diabetics. This study was to investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in clinically diagnosed patients with diabetes and to determine the uropathogens responsible for ASB and UTIs as well as their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. One hundred and twenty five diabetic patients comprising 69 (55.2%) females and 56 (44.8%) males attending the Buea and Limbe Regional Hospital Diabetic Clinics, South West Region, Cameroon were studied. Midstream urine samples were collected from the study participants. The midstream urine samples were examined macroscopically, microscopically, and culturally using standard techniques on different agar cultures. Uropathogens isolated included E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, Pr...
The Rhesus blood group is the second most clinically significant blood group system after the ABO... more The Rhesus blood group is the second most clinically significant blood group system after the ABO. Like the ABO blood group system, the distribution of the Rhesus antigens varies from one population to another. A cross sectional study was designed to determine the distribution of the ABO and Rhesus antigens, as well as irregular antibodies against Rhesus antigens in the study area. The ABO and Rhesus blood groups were determined by the use of monoclonal antibodies and irregular antibodies were determined by detection of anti-human globulin on washed red blood cells. Of the 126 participants, O (44.44%) was the most prevalent ABO blood group followed by A (31.7%), B (17.46%) and AB (6.34%). 118 (93.65%) of the 126 participants were Rhesus-D positive and only 8 (6.35%) were Rhesus-D negative. The distribution of the other Rhesus antigens in decreasing order of prevalence were c (99.21%), e (95.24%), E (31.75%) and C (14.28%). ccDee (57.15%) was the most prevalent Rhesus phenotype while...
Background: Malaria is a major public health problem among children less than 5years in urban set... more Background: Malaria is a major public health problem among children less than 5years in urban settings of Sub Saharan Africa including Cameroon. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of mothers of under-five children on malaria prevention in a resource-limited urban setting in the city of Douala. Methods: A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data in a KAP cross section study on malaria prevention among caregivers of under- five. A cluster sampling method was used and data was analyzed on SPSS. Results: 92 mothers or caregivers of children below 5years were surveyed in Bepanda quarter of Douala. Majority of the respondents [45(48.91%)] were young women in the 25-29 age bracket. 90(97.85%) women knew that malaria is caused by mosquito bites. Predisposition factors to malaria among children included poor home hygiene [34 (36.96%)], presence of stagnate water near dwellings [28(30.43%)] and open windows and d...
Objective: Baseline titres for somatic and flagella (O and H) antibodies should be established in... more Objective: Baseline titres for somatic and flagella (O and H) antibodies should be established in every community to avoid false positive results with the Widal test given that a proportion of healthy individuals have antibodies capable of reacting at variable titres. The objective of this study was to determine baseline antibody titres for the Widal test in the Buea Health District. Background : A cross sectional study was carried out involving 150 participants (100 patients and 50 controls). Blood and stool samples were collected from patients presenting with symptoms of typhoid at the Buea Regional Hospital. Widal tests were run for the blood samples while the stool samples were cultured for Salmonella species. Results: Out of 100 patients, 21 (21%) were culture-positive for Salmonella . None of the control members was culture-positive. Among the culture positive cases, 17 were positive with the Widal tube test among whom 13 (76.5%) had anti-O antibody titre =1/160 and 16 (94.1%)...
Candidiasis which is one of the most common opportunistic infection in HIV is caused by Candida s... more Candidiasis which is one of the most common opportunistic infection in HIV is caused by Candida species that vary with respect to their epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility. This study was designed to determine the distribution and antifungal susceptibility pattern in HIV patients in Cameroon. Oropharyngeal and urine specimens were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar. Speciation was achieved by the germ tube and sugar assimilation tests, and antifungal sensitivity test was performed using a commercially available test kit. 138 (66.67%) of the 207 participants had candidiasis. Among them, oropharyngeal colonisation 122 (81.2%) was significantly (P = 0.0003) higher than urinary colonisation 26 (18.8%). Candida albicans was the most predominant species isolated. The prevalence of candidiasis was significantly (P = 0.0002) higher among patients who were not on HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral therapy) (82.7%) than in patients on HAART (56.4%). No significant association was obs...
Onchocerciasis is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness affecting over 37 million peo... more Onchocerciasis is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness affecting over 37 million people of which 99% are in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of onchocerciasis in the Fundong Health District, a locality where community-directed treatment with ivermectin has been carried out for 6 consecutive years. Questionnaires covering participants' identity, Rapid Epidemiological Assessment (REA) for onchocerciasis and parasitological parameters were distributed to participants. Skin snip (SS) was collected for laboratory investigation. A total of 404 participants belonging to 200 households were randomly selected from the Fundong Health District, of which 134 (33.2%) were males and 270(66.8%) were females, 14 (3.5%) had microfilaredermia and 15(3.7%) had nodules. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of microfilaredermia with respect to age of participants (X(2)=2.749, P=0.601). There was however a statistically significant differ...
Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread of all human parasitic diseases and is a serious he... more Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread of all human parasitic diseases and is a serious health problem in Cameroon despite tremendous efforts by health authorities. The purpose of this study was to determine community knowledge of the infection in order to evaluate control programmes put in place. A random sampling method was used to administer questionnaires to 3200 individuals in 80 communities throughout the ten regions of the country. Globally the percentage of persons with good knowledge of schistosomiasis was low (28.8%). Of the 2586 who responded 1311 (50.7%) were females and 1275 (49.3%) were males. There was a statistically significant difference in the community knowledge pattern by gender (chi2 = 157.28, P < 0.05), and persons with good knowledge were more frequent among males than females (61.8% vs. 38.2% P < 0.05). The percentage of people who had good knowledge about the disease was highest in the Far North region (35.4), followed by the North (33.8) and t...
To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as dia... more To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as diagnostic tools for Streptococcus agalactiae carriage in pregnancy. Observational, analytical case-control study. Hospital-based study in a primary and a tertiary health care institution. One hundred and six pregnant and 56 non-pregnant (controls) women were included in the study. The participants were of different socio-economic status. A volunteer sample was used. About 800 subjects were contacted and 162 participated in the study. The sensitivity of the screening test varied from 25% for the CAMP test to 77.78% for the hippurate hydrolysis reaction. The specificity was the same for both tests at (50%). A significant difference in positivity between the CAMP and hippurate hydrolysis reactions (95% confidence limit, P < 0.05) was observed. The predictive values of the positive test were 66.6% (CAMP) and 87.55% (hippurate hydrolysis) while the negative test were 14.29% (CAMP) and 33.30%...
Out of the 14 organisms isolated from the endocervix of pregnant and non-pregnant women, Lactobac... more Out of the 14 organisms isolated from the endocervix of pregnant and non-pregnant women, Lactobacillus species had the highest prevalence rates of 18.33%, 20.0% respectively, followed by Candida species (6.67%, 20.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (13.33%, 11.43%) and Staphylococcus pyogenes (11.67%, 11.43%). From the anorectum, the most prevalent were Streptococcus agalatiae, Streptococcus mutans and Candida species with prevalence rates of20.0% among the pregnant women and 14.29% for the non-pregnant women.Hormone based contraceptives (i.e. oral contraceptive and injection) do have a positive influence on the growth and survival of microorganism more than the physical barrier contraceptives (i.e. condoms and intrauterine device). Antibiotic intake prior to the study affected negatively the growth and survival of microorganisms in the endocervix, but not the age of pregnancy. As a result of the numerous types of microorganisms growing in the endocervix and the anorectum of both pregnant a...
International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health
Background: Vaccination is what is strongly recommended in protecting against childhood diseases.... more Background: Vaccination is what is strongly recommended in protecting against childhood diseases. The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) in Cameroon started in 1976 as a pilot project and became operational all over the country in 1982 where vaccination is seen a fundamental right of every child in the country. However, rural areas have lots of constrains to the effective implementation of vaccination programs some of which are population-related. Purpose: This study aimed to assess the association between some factors and adherence to vaccination appointments in Ngambe Health District; a typical rural health district in Cameroon. Methods: This was a case control study where the vaccination records of health facilities in the district were reviewed and parents who respected their vaccination appointments formed the controls while those who missed a vaccination appointment were the cases. They were then traced for interviewed and data analyzed using Epi infos version 3.5.4. Resul...
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