Prevalence, Intensities of Infection and Associated Factors of Soil-Transmitted Helminthes in Three Ecological Settings of Cameroon: Edea, Eseka and Kekem Health Districts

Cyrille Bruno MOGO^{1, 2}, Cyrille Levis KOUNTCHOU¹, Leopold Gustave LEHMAN² and Thomas KUETE^3,

¹Center for Medical Research in Health and Priority Pathologies, Institute of Medical Research and Medical Plant studies, Yaoundé 13033, Cameroon

²Faculty of Sciences, the University of Douala, Cameroon

³Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the University of Douala, Cameroon

Cite this paper:
Cyrille Bruno MOGO, Cyrille Levis KOUNTCHOU, Leopold Gustave LEHMAN and Thomas KUETE. Prevalence, Intensities of Infection and Associated Factors of Soil-Transmitted Helminthes in Three Ecological Settings of Cameroon: Edea, Eseka and Kekem Health Districts. American Journal of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease. 2026; 14(1):22-29. doi: 10.12691/ajeid-14-1-4

Abstract

Soil-transmitted helminth infections are widespread neglected tropical diseases targeted for elimination in Cameroon according to a road map set by health decisionmakers to scale up from control to elimination of STH by 2030. However, precision mapping remained a main limitation to achieve this goal. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and intensity of infections of soil-transmitted helminth infections in three health districts of three ecological zones of Cameroon. This was a community-based cross-sectional study undergone from April 2024 to August 2024. Fresh stool samples provided by consenting residents were analyzed using duplicate Kato-katz smears technique for detection and counting of helminth eggs. Prevalence of specific helminth infection was determined, then parasitic loads and density of infection were estimated. Data were statistically analyzed considering statistical difference significant if p-value < 0.05. A total of 658 participants were included in the study. Three STH species were detected namely Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and hookworm. Overall prevalence of STH ranged between 18.7% (40/214) in the savannah area and 24.9% (57/229) in the forestry area. STH monospecific infection represented 95.6%. Ascaris lumbricoides infections had the highest prevalence and hookworm infections the lowest irrespective of ecological area. A. lumbricoides infections showed significant higher prevalence in 5 to 9 years old children in Kekem health district (p=0.019). All A. lumbricoides infections were of light intensity of infections, while whipworm and hookworm infections were of light to moderate intensities. Prevalence of STH infections remained over the threshold for chemoprevention in the forestry area. None of the factors assessed significantly influenced the prevalence of any of the detected STH infections. Intensities of infections were predominantly light, with occurrence of moderate intensities of infections due to hookworm and whipworm. This study highlighted for evaluation of STH prevalence in sentinel sites before launching the next control strategy campaign.

Keywords:
Soil-transmitted helminth Prevalence intensities of infection Health district Ecological areas Cameroon

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