@article{ajwr20231121,
author={{Nkemnyi, Anyizi Bertha and Ndip, Lucy Mange and Oben, Benedicta Oshuware and Mbu, Oben Pius and Arrey, Tambekong Talkspeak and Arrey, Mbeng Ashu},
title={Disease Burden on a Riverine Population Dependent on a Peri-urban River: Insights from Hospitalization Data in Akonolinga, Cameroon},
journal={American Journal of Water Resources},
volume={11},
number={2},
pages={41--48},
year={2023},
url={http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajwr/11/2/1},
issn={2333-4819},
abstract={Pristine or near-pristine<b> </b>freshwater rivers provide numerous ecosystem services to riverine communities. Yet they could be a significant public health threat due to contamination and pollution. This study assessed the disease burden among the population of Akonolinga, on the banks of River Nyong in Cameroon. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to ten medical facilities within the town. Hospitalization and laboratory diagnosis logs for the year 2020 were reviewed. Results showed that 44.4 ¡À 1.15% of the respondents had recurrent foodborne diseases between 1 to 10 times a year, and there was strong positive correlation between the rate of foodborne diseases and that of waterborne diseases (rho = 0.881, p = 0.002). Foodborne disease cases were highest during the dry season (66.67 ¡À 1.73%). Malaria was most prevalent (27.8%) but statistically similar to prevalence of typhoid (22.2%) and diarrhea (22.2%). Bacteria were the major causative agent of diseases, dominated by members of <i>Salmonella</i> (30.3%), <i>Pseudomonas</i> (21.2%) and <i>Escherichia</i> (21.2%). The prevalence of <i>Salmonella</i> was statistically higher than that of <i>Trichomonas</i>, <i>Shigella</i>, <i>Amoeba</i> and <i>Staphylococcus</i>. These results are suggestive of a contaminated environment, poor hygiene etc. which would necessitate behavioural change within the population for better management.},
doi={10.12691/ajwr-11-2-1}
publisher={Science and Education Publishing}
}