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Introduction Cervical cancer remains one of the leading health hazards affecting a majority women across the globe. The situation is even more, preoccupying particularly in areas where screening programmes and services are absent. The World Health Organization (WHO) says “cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women, with an estimated 570,000 new cases diagnosed in 2018 which represents 6.6% of all female cancers. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low- and middle-income countries”. Despite the high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally, the trend could be reduced through a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early diagnosis, effective screening and treatment programmes. In Cameroon, the prevalence of cervical cancer is 24% among women of reproductive age. An estimated 1,993 new cases are recorded annually in Cameroon with 1676 deaths. Despite this precarious situation, the uptake in cervical cancer screening service remains poor and stands at 19.6% in Cameroon. It is against this background that this paper evaluates the uptake of cervical cancer among women aged 25-65 years in the Kumbo West Health District (KWHD). Specifically, this study assesses the knowledge of women in this health district on cervical cancer and determines factors that affect the uptake of cervical cancer screening services. Methods This study is a cross-sectional study in the KWHD involving 253 consented women between the ages 25 to 65 years. The principal research instrument was a three-part questionnaire designed to collect information on socio-demographic profile, cervical cancer knowledge and associated factors for uptake in cervical cancer screening. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using Excel. Results were presented in tables and figures. Results Our study reveals that a majority of the participants (74.70%) had heard of cervical cancer and 43.48% had undergone cervical cancer screening. Again, 24.51% and 29.25% of the participants respectively could not identify any risk factor and symptom of cervical cancer. Conclusion The study revealed that the uptake of cervical cancer screening in KWHD is higher than the national uptake. The level of awareness on the risk factors and symptoms of cervical cancer is low, posing a need to put more emphasis on educating and creating awareness of cervical cancer among communities on risk factors, prevention measures and signs and symptoms in all the health areas of the KWHD.

Introduction Teenage pregnancy is a social problem in Cameroon in general and in Kumbo East in particular. This results in physical, psychological and socio-economic consequences on the teenage mother, family and the society as a whole. In spite of studies and interventions that have been and are being implemented, the prevalence of unplanned teenage pregnancy in Kumbo East Health District is still high, suggesting that more efforts are required to achieve effective preventive measures. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with adolescent school girl's pregnancy in Kumbo East health district. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 293 respondents aged 15 to 19year. The district hospital antenatal clinics and the Health Centres were selected. Data was obtained from 292 participants under the age of 20 years who were willing using a questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Results The study show a high prevalence (60.75%) of teenage pregnancy in the sampled antenatal clinics of Kumbo East Health District attributable to inadequate considerations given to factors associated with school girl's pregnancy. This study has indicated that the age of teenager at first pregnancy, low contraceptive use, socio-economic status and physical violence are factors that are greatly associated with teenage pregnancy. Among the reasons contributing to the low use of contraceptives are: sexually activity, lack of knowledge, fear of side effects, including sterility, condoms disappearing in the womb and inequality of power with sexual partners. This study shows that teenagers obtain information mainly from school (53%) and relatives (20%). Conclusion The use of contraceptive alone may not reduce teenage pregnancy, however double method is very effective but addressing the impact of poverty on teenagers, empowering them on their rights and information in order to make right choices is very important.

Background: Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is one of the most common complications of pregnancy. It is one of the leading identifiable cause of preterm deliveries, and an important cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of PPROM, to identify its associated factors and to evaluate the early outcome (within 72 hrs after delivery) following PPROM at the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in March and April 2020. Three hundred and eighty-seven women who delivered at the labour room of the BRH were included in this study. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to obtain data. The cases of PPROM were women who had lost amniotic fluid continuously before hospitalisation and whose gestational age was between 28 weeks + 0 days and 36 weeks + 6 days. Descriptive statistics followed by logistic regression analyses were conducted with level of significance set at p-value <0.05. Results: Among the 387 participants included in the study, 19 had PPROM giving a prevalence of 4.91%. Of 57 preterm deliveries, PPROM accounted for 33.33% (n = 19). The statistically significant independent factors associated with lower odds of PPROM were the age groups 20-29 years (aOR = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01-0.42, p = 0.003) and ≥30 years (aOR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.001-0.14, p = 0.001), and attending ANC ≥ 4 times (aOR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.06-0.84, p = 0.026). Whereas, having a multiple pregnancy (aOR = 39.72, 95% CI: 7.19-219.33, p < 0.001), urinary tract infection during pregnancy (aOR = 104.86, 95% CI:

Background The need to start treatment early for pregnant women who present with clinical features of malaria usually conflicts with the need to confirm diagnosis by microscopy (MP) before treatment, due to delays in obtaining results. Parasite sequestration in the placenta is also a problem. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), which detect soluble antigens, are a valuable alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate pretreatment parasite prevalence by microscopy and by RDT and to assess the accuracy of RDT with MP as reference. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out at the obstetrical unit of the Central Hospital in Yaoundé, during the period January-August 2015. Consenting patients with symptoms of suspected malaria in pregnancy were recruited and a blood sample taken for MP and RDT before treatment was started. The estimates of diagnostic performance (with 95% confidence interval) were calculated in OpenEpi online software using the Wilson’s score. The agreement, as reflected by the Cohen’s kappa, was calculated and interpreted using known intervals. Results The results showed that, out of the 104 patients recruited, 69.2% (95%CI: 59.1–77.5) were MP positive while 77.94% (95%CI: 63.1–80.9) were RDT positive. The sensitivity of the malaria RDT was 91.67% (95%CI: 83.69–96.77) while the specificity was 53.13% (95%CI: 31.39–65.57). The diagnostic accuracy of the RDT with MP as reference was 79.81% (95%CI: 70.0–86.1). All cases were due to Plasmodium falciparum. A Cohen’s kappa of 0.45 (95%CI: 0.26–0.64) was obtained, consistent with a moderate agreement between the tests. Conclusions The diagnostic accuracy of the CareStart™ malaria Pf/PAN compared to microscopy was high, but not as desirable, with a false negative RDT at very high parasitaemia. In tertiary facilities, RDTs appear to provide a better diagnostic solution compared to microscopy. However, future studies with larger sample sizes should make this observation more generalizable; as missing a case could have serious consequences on pregnancy outcome.