Abstract
Helminth infections, such as <i>Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura</i> and Hookworms are major public health concerns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and intensity of infection of gastro-intestinal helminthiasis in Babadjou. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out on eight hundred and twenty five (825) stool samples collected from residents using the simple centrifugal flotation and McMaster count technique respectively. Out of the 825 samples examined, 70(8.5%) were infected with at least one helminth parasite with prevalence and intensities of infection of 4.4% and 2594.44 ± 3897.17 for <i>A. lumbricoides</i>, 4.2% and 72.86 ± 110.04 for <i>T. trichiura</i>, 1.9% and 83.33 ± 72.37 for Hookworms and 0.2% and 50 ± 00 for <i>Capillaria hepatica</i> respectively. Males (13.8%) were more infected than females (8.6%). The prevalence of <i>A. lumbricoides</i> and <i>T. trichiura</i> vary significantly with age groups with those of 1-10 years taking the lead (17.9%). The prevalence between the three educational levels differed significantly (P < 0.05) for <i>A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura</i> and Hookworm where those from the primary level were most infected (28.6%). The locality of Bamedji showed very high prevalences of <i>A. lumbricoides</i> (35.7%) and <i>T. trichiura</i> (17.9%) with significant differences as well. From the different occupations involved in the current study, students harboured all the four nematodes encountered. Cases of double and triple infections were recorded with <i>A. lumbricoides+ T. trichiura</i> (2.4%) being the highest and <i>A. lumbricoides+ T. trichiura</i>+ Hookworms (0.2%) the only triple infection registered. According to fecal concentration of eggs, 77.01% of infections were light infections, 3.44% moderate and 19.54% heavy infections. Only <i>A. lumbricoides</i> had heavy infections while all Hookworm infections were light. The results found on this study show that, it is important to control and prevent gastrointestinal helminths in and around Babadjou.
Highlights
Parasitic infections constitute a major health problem in tropical and subtropical zones where climatic conditions like temperature and humidity, lack of hygiene, poverty, sociocultural habits and demographic parameters favour their development 1
The main interest of this study was the prevalence and intensity of infection of helminthiasis in Babadjou in which the overall prevalence was found to be 8.5%. This result corroborates that of Nougning 1 in the localities of Bambui and Bambili North West Region of Cameroon who recorded a prevalence of 8.5% among residents and the 8.2% obtained during a comparative study carried out in Wuyi and Laogang in the Republic of china 10
Four parasitic helminths were identified including A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura, Hookworms and C. hepatica with specific prevalences of 4.4%, 4.2%, 1.9% and 0.2% respectively. These results are similar to the values obtained by Nougning 1 who recorded 4.37% in A. lumbricoides, 2.75% in T. trichiura and 1.57% in Hookworm infections but relatively low as compared to those registered in Dschang by Wabo Poné et al, 11 (A. lumbricoides: 18%, T. trichiura: 36%, Hookworm: 11%)
Summary
Parasitic infections constitute a major health problem in tropical and subtropical zones where climatic conditions like temperature and humidity, lack of hygiene, poverty, sociocultural habits and demographic parameters favour their development 1. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates over 2 billion people in the world living with these parasitic infections where school age children and women at the age of procreation are the most infected 2. These parasitic diseases kill more than 155,000 thousand people per year with 97% of these deaths occurring in the developing countries 3. Intestinal helminthiasis among these parasitic infections are the most common infections occurring throughout the developing world 4 with 89.9 million school age children infected in Sub Saharan Africa 5. The commonest and well known of these helminthiasis are Ascariasis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides affecting 1.5 billion people, Hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus) affecting 1 billion and trichuriasis due to Trichuris trichiura affecting 800
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