Profile of Protozoa Isolated from Stool Samples in Yaounde, Cameroon

Laure NGANDO^{1, 2,} , Leopold MBOUS NGUIMBUS^{3, 4}, Claris KILLA^{3, 4} and Thérèse NKOA¹

¹Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medecine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon

²Laboratory of Bacteriology/Parasitology, Centre Pasteur of Cameroon, Yaounde, Cameroon

³Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon

⁴Catholic University of Central Africa, School of Health Science, Yaounde, Cameroon

Cite this paper:
Laure NGANDO, Leopold MBOUS NGUIMBUS, Claris KILLA and Thérèse NKOA. Profile of Protozoa Isolated from Stool Samples in Yaounde, Cameroon. American Journal of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease. 2020; 8(2):48-55. doi: 10.12691/ajeid-8-2-1

Abstract

Background: Intestinal parasitic infestations are among the most common communicable diseases in the world with a higher prevalence in developing countries. They are caused by protozoa which have long been associated with foodborne and waterborne disease outbreaks. The aim of our study was to present the profile of protozoa isolated from stool samples in Yaounde from 2010-2020 and to analyse the association of intestinal parasitic diseases with age and gender during the same period. Methods: This retrospective and observational study was carried out from January 04, 2010 to January 10, 2020 in Yaounde, capital of the Center region, at Centre Pasteur of Cameroon. After collecting the stool samples, the intestinal protozoa were identified using the Bailenger concentration technique and staining with Kop-Color II. Microscopic observation between slide and coverglass was focused on trophozoites and cysts of protozoa. Results: A total of 106.846 stool samples were analyzed during the study period and the overall infestation rate of intestinal protozoa was 8.4% (8958 samples positive for the presence of a protozoan). Women were the most represented with 5697 samples (9.0%) compared to 3052 (7.5%) samples for men. This difference in gender distribution was significant (p<0.0001). The participants were between 1–105 years (mean±SD = 42.6±19.4) of age. The age distribution of the patients showed that the age group with the highest prevalence of infestation (9.4%) ranged from 21–40 years with a significant difference in distribution (p<0.001) from one age group to another. A significant decrease of stool samples was also observed depending on the years of the study (p<0.0001). The distribution of identified protozoa was: 3.3% for Entamoeba hartmanni, 1.9% for Entamoeba coli, 1.8% for Entamoeba histolytica histolytica, 0.4% for Trichomonas intestinalis, 0.4% for Entamoeba histolytica minuta, 0.3% for Gardia duodenalis, 0.2% for Chilomatix mesnilii, 0.1% for Endolimax nana, 0.04% for Isospora belli, 0.02% for Balantidium coli, 0.006% for Cyclospora cayetanensis and 0.003% for Pseudolimax butschlii. A statistically significant association of age groups (p<0.0001) and sex (p<0.0001) with the identified protozoa was obtained in our study with a higher risk of infestation in women and those of the 21–40 years age group were the most vulnerable. Conclusion: The overall infestation rate of intestinal protozoa is high in Yaounde with highest contamination being amongst women and people 32 years of age. Moreover, despite the significant decrease of infestations over the years, measures must still be taken to prevent diseases caused by intestinal protozoa in the Cameroonian context.

Keywords:
intestinal parasitic infestations communicable diseases protozoa technique of Bailenger Kop-Color II

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