Background: The street-food industry lacks legal recognition, it operates in unstable and precarious conditions, involving women and men with minimal or no knowledge of hygienic food handling practices. Infective eggs, bacteria, toxins and cysts of faecal orally transmissible parasites are common agents responsible for food contamination in developing countries. Objective: To determine the incidence of digestive faecal-oral parasites among street-food vendors in Buea, South-west region of Cameroon, Methods: From March to May 2009, physical and laboratory analysis of stool samples of 150 randomly selected street-food vendors, residing in four different zones in the municipality were carried out. Information on environmental and personal hygiene was also collected. Results: Results revealed that 56.7% of the sampled population was infected with faecal-oral parasites. The major faecaloral parasites detected in stool samples were: Entamoeba coli (14.0%), Entamoeba histolytica (12.67%), Ascaris lumbricoides (11.33%), Ankylostoma duodenalis (10.67%). Childcare activities, lack of deworming, poor personal hygiene, poor sanitary and toilet facilities, were factors promoting the spread of faecal-oral infections. Conclusion: Food vendors should be educated on personal hygiene and safe food handling measures. Regulatory procedures on environmental hygiene and regular medical and paramedical follow up of food vendors should be enforced.

Background: Faecal-orally transmitted parasites are those which are spread through faecal contamination of food and drinks. Infections with these parasites are responsible for high morbidity and mortality, especially in children in developing countries.Objective: This study was carried out to determine school children's perception of faecal-orally transmitted parasitic infections and the relationship between that perception and the prevalence of the infections.Methods: Data were collected through questionnaires and laboratory analysis of stool samples. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1 questionnaires were administered to determine children's knowledge on the cause, risk behaviours and prevention of the faecal-orally parasite infections. Stool specimens were analyzed using the formol-ether concentration technique. Health education was utilized in the experimental village, but not the control. Phase 2 was conducted six months later during which questionnaires were distributed and stool samples analyzed from both villages.Results: A total of 370 children were enrolled in this intervention study, out of which 208 were from Kake II (experimental arm) and 162 from Barombi-kang (control arm). At Kake II there was a significant increase in awareness in relation to the source of infection (9.5% vs. 62.5%, P< 0.001), risk behaviour (12.4% vs. 83.7, P<0.001) and prevention (17.9% vs. 84.8%, P<0.001) between the first and second phase of the study, followed by a significant change in the prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides (24.9% vs. 3.4%, P<0.001), Entamoeba coli (12.9% vs. 6.5%, P<0.001), Trichuris trichiura (22.4% vs. 12.5%, P=0.004) and Entamoeba histolytica (6.0% vs. 1.9%, P=0.035). In Barombi-kang the change in the awareness was not significant (P>0.1) and there was no significant change in the prevalence of any of the faecal-orally transmitted parasites detected. The relationship between the perception and the prevalence of feacal orally transmitted parasitic infections showed a strong negative correlation (r dispersed between -0.97 and -99) Conclusion: Health education applied in the experimental village was responsible for the changed perception of infection by children and consequently for the reduction of infestation rate. Good perception of the infection was inversely proportional to its prevalence. Therefore, health education through the framework of school proved to be an effective control method for faecalorally transmitted parasite infections. We recommend this inexpensive method to be adopted as a national policy in developing countries, especially in rural communities.