Background The outbreak of COVID-19 has imposed many challenges on health systems. The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical activity of pediatricians. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional and descriptive online survey among pediatricians practicing in Cameroon. Data were collected through an anonymous pre-tested Google Form®. Results Among the 118 pediatricians eligible for the survey, 101 responded (85.6%), of whom 61.2% were women. The pediatric outpatient consultations dropped significantly from 60.4% of pediatricians seeing more than 30 patients per week before the pandemic to 9.9% during the pandemic ( P < 0.000). According to the occupancy rate of hospitalisation beds, 45.5% of pediatricians reported having 76–100% of pediatric hospitalisation beds occupied per week before the pandemic but no pediatrician reported a similar rate during the pandemic ( P < 0.000). There was a significant increase in the use of telehealth, ranging from no pediatrician using telehealth “very frequently” before the pandemic to 23.8% using it during the pandemic ( P < 0.000). Most of the pediatricians had at their disposal surgical masks (96%), care gloves (80.2%), hydroalcoholic gel (99.0%), and soap and water (86.1%). For the management of children, 90.1% and 71.3% of pediatricians experienced difficulties accessing COVID-19 PCR and chloroquine, respectively, and 74.3% declared difficulties for proper isolation of patients. More than half (65.3%) of the pediatricians interviewed were “very afraid” or “extremely afraid” of being infected with SARS-Cov-2, respectively 45.5% and 19.8%. The most frequent reasons included fear of infecting their relatives (85.1%) and of developing a severe form of the disease (43.6%). The reluctance to consult health services expressed by the parents was due to: fear of being infected when leaving their home and especially in the health facility (96%), strict compliance with confinement (30.7%), and financial difficulties of families (13.9%). Conclusion This work highlights the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the clinical activity of Cameroonian pediatricians. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a significant drop in the use of health facilities, which probably has a negative impact on children's overall level of health. Although the preventive measures explain this drop in attendance at health facilities, the parents’ fear of being infected when leaving the house was the predominant reason likely to explain this drop in attendance at health facilities. This could constitute an axis for developing messages to parents to encourage a gradual return to child health services.

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Background:The improvement of postnatal care has led to the increase in survival rate of preterm infants in our setting and considering their vulnerability, we set out to assess the morbidity and mortality of preterm infants 12 months after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was done from the 2008 to 2013 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital and included children born preterm, admitted in the NICU and discharged alive during the study period. Results: Out of 816 premature infants that were discharged alive from the NICU, only 232 (28.4%) preterm infants discharged alive presented for the routine visits during the first 12 months of life. Among these, 206 (89%) had at least one complication during the neonatal hospitalization period. Postnatal complications were significantly more frequent in infants born before 34 weeks of gestation and in babies with birth weight below 1500 grams (p<0.001). Up to 72.5% of those who came for routine visits were less than 34 weeks and 86% weighed <2000 g at birth. Seventy-six (32.7%) preterm infants were readmitted within their first year of life and the causes of readmission were respiratory tract diseases in 42 (55%), late neonatal sepsis in 19 (25.0%), malaria in 9 (11.8%) and epilepsy in 6 (7.9%). Neither the gestational age nor birth weight influenced readmission (p=0.25, p=0.590 respectively). The smaller the gestational age, the longer the duration of postnatal hospitalization (p<0.001). Conclusion: Routine follow-up after discharge remains a problem in our setting due to non-respect of appointments. Infants born preterm suffer mostly from respiratory tract diseases during the first year of life.

Introduction: Perinatal asphyxia exposes the patient to a significant risk of sequel, the most frequent of which is cerebral palsy.Method: A retrospective case-control cohort study was conducted over a period of 41 months at the Yaoundé Gynaecological-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital (HGOPY). The aim was to determine the factors associated with neonatal asphyxia that leads to disability. The study population consisted of neonates who survived encephalopathy classified as Sarnat 2 or 3 (cases), and those who had an Apgar score >7 (controls). They were followed and examined by a neuropaediatrician. A total of 117 patients were selected: 39 asphyxiated and 78 non-asphyxiated. Matching was done according to age, sex, mode of delivery and place of birth.Result: Of the 39 survivors of neonatal asphyxia 79.5% progressed to disability compared to 2.6% of those not asphyxiated (P: 0.000). The number of male children with disability was higher but not statistically significant P=0.623. Children born at our centre were also more likely to develop a severe disabilities P=0.6214. The majority of children with severe disabilities were born by cephalic presentation P: 0.4252. Conclusion:In this study, only neonatal asphyxia was a risk factor for disability while other factors like sex, mode of delivery, place of birth were not significantly associated with the occurrence of disability.

Introduction: Neurological distress is life-threatening in most cases. Specific data on neurological pediatric emergencies in our environment are rare. We aim to describe the incidence and pattern of pediatric neurological emergencies. Patients and method:This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at the Mother and Child Center of the Chantal Biya Foundation in Yaounde. We collected data from the registers of emergency room admission during the year 2020. Any child aged 0 to 18 years who presented with neurological distress main complaint was included.Results: A total of 5998 children were received in the emergency department during 2020, of which 640 (10.1%) were for neurological distress, the average age was 46±6 months with extremes of 1 day and 18 years. The sex ratio was 1.2. The main neurological symptoms that motivated the need of emergency care were convulsions (77.8%), consciousness disorders (8.9%), and behavioural disorders (6.8%). The most frequent diseases were: severe malaria (32.0%), meningitis, and meningoencephalitis (30.8%). The main comorbidities were cerebral palsy (0.9%), sickle cell disease (2.19%), diabetes (0.5%) and hydrocephalus (0.5%). Conclusion:This study clearly shows that neurological distress is a frequent reason for admission to the Mother and Child Center of the Chantal Biya Foundation emergency room. Their knowledge allows to anticipate and to improve the care offer.