TITLE:
Asymptomatic Carriage of Salmonella and Intestinal Parasites in Pupils in Yaounde
AUTHORS:
Rosanne Minone Ngome, Michel Toukam, Nadia Christelle Noumedem Anangmo, Sylvain Raoul Simeni Njonnou, Emilia Lyonga Mbamyah, Hortense Gonsu Kamga
KEYWORDS:
Stool Culture, Intestinal Parasites, Pupils
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.11 No.2,
June
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Feco-oral transmitted diseases (FOTD) remain a
public health issue, particularly in developing countries. Data concerning the
carriage of Salmonella and intestinal
parasites in children are available worldwide but are lacking in Cameroon. This
study aimed to determine the asymptomatic carriage of Salmonella and intestinal parasites in children of two primary
schools in Yaoundé. Methods: A
cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from October 2017 to May
2018 in two primary schools (from rural and urban areas) in the 7th precinct of Yaoundé. Sociodemographic, clinical and paraclinical (rectal swab,
direct examination of fresh stool and bacteriological culture on Hektoen
medium) data were collected. Results: We included 368 (192 boys)
pupils from both schools (184 in each school) with a mean age of 8.99 ± 2.21
years. None of the children was infected by Salmonella
spp. Intestinal parasite prevalence was 9.80% (6.52% of children from the
urban school vs 13.04% from the rural ones). The intestinal parasite prevalence
tended to be higher in girls than in boys (11.98% vs. 7.39%). Among intestinal parasites, protozoa were
the most widely found. Entamoeba
histolytica and Giardia intestinalis were the most prevalent pathogenic intestinal protozoa (11.11% vs. 25% of all positive stool exams). The helminths, less frequent, were represented by Ascaris lumbicoides and Enterobius vermicularis. The
factors associated with intestinal parasite carriage were mainly rural school
location and age between 11 - 13 years. Conclusion: Among
children in primary school, Salmonella infection was absent, while intestinal parasites are frequent, represented
mostly by protozoa. This parasitism is in our cohort associated with the rural
school location and the 11 - 13 years age group. This
suggests that there is additional room for the implementation of prevention measures
for intestinal parasite infections in our setting.