Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections among Inmates of the New-bell Central Prison, Cameroon

Abstract

Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) remain a public health issue in developing countries where overcrowded settlements and poor sanitation are general rule. Due to paucity of IPIs data in known overcrowded Cameroonian prisons, this cross-sectional study conducted in 2015 in the New-Bell Central Prison (NBCP) aimed to establish biodiversity, prevalence and risk factors of intestinal protozoan and helminthe infections among inmates.
 Fresh stool samples collected from the NBCP volunteered inmates were laboratory examined microscopically as fresh mounts plus iodine, Kato-Katz smears, formalin-ether concentration and modified Ziehl-Nelseen stained sediments.
 Of a total 374 inmates who participated in the study, overall IPIs prevalence was 39.3%. Helminthe and protozoa prevalence was 16.6% and 24.6% respectively. Parasites species were recorded at following prevalence: Ascaris lumbricoides (10.4%), Trichuris trichiura (5.1%), Schistosoma mansoni (0.5%), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (14.2%), Entamoeba coli (16.6%), Giardia intestinalis (7.2%), Chilomastix mesnili (2.4%), Blastocystis spp (2.1%) and Cryptosporidium sp (4.3%). Co-infections by two or three parasites were recorded among parasitized inmates.
 Overall IPIs prevalence was not significantly influenced by gender, age, detention duration, education level, handwashing practices, sanitation and drinking water source. However, highest IPIs prevalence occurred in males aged 30 to 49 years old, less than one year detainees, latrine users and those who drank borehole water. Systematic handwashing practices and education level did not influence significantly IPIs prevalence. All helminthe infections were of light intensities.
 Inmates in the New Bell central prison were parasitized by several species of protozoa and intestinal worms in varying prevalence depending on the detention period, the sex, the age and hygiene. A regular IPIs control among prison inmates was recommended to the NBCP managers to prevent related morbidity.

Effects of Soil-Transmitted Helminths and Intestinal Protozoan Infections on Haemoglobin Levels among School-Aged Children in Belo and Bui, North West Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our findings indicated that pupils infected with the STHs, A. lumbricoides and hookworm, as well as with the protozoan, E. hist/dispar and G. duodenalis, were more likely to suffer from iron deficiency anaemia, which is similar to findings reported in Malaysia [17]. Anaemia prevalence of 23.1% is in line with 24.6% reported amongst prison inmates in Douala [28] and 21.6% reported in Southern Angola [48], higher than the 15.4% reported among SAC in Ethiopia [15] and lower than the 29.43-85.2% reported amongst school children in Cameroon, Africa, and Asia [6,[12][13][14]23]. The differences in the prevalence of anaemia could be explained by the fact that the present study was a community-based study in which asymptomatic primary school pupils were enrolled by simple random sampling with a larger sample size compared to other studies in which whole schools/communities or hospitalized patients were enrolled as well as others wherein malaria was considered to be a risk factor of anaemia.…”

“…prevalence of at least one STH in this study appears to be higher than the 1-16.6% reported [4,14,26,28,37,38] and lower than the 24.1-81.6% reported in other studies [4,6,9,17,39]. Compared to similar studies, we found STH endemicity similar to that in other countries [12,20,21,40], as well as higher [9,15,17,40].…”

“…In Muyuka-Cameroon, the rate of E. histolytica/dispar in SAC was reported to be 18.4% [6]. Giardia duodenalis, a flagellate, is the only common protozoa found in the duodenum and jejunum of humans [27] and has been reported amongst prison inmates in Douala [28] as well as amongst children in the Nyong et Mfoumou Division [29] and Bolifamba in Buea [26]. In a study to map shistosomiasis and helminthiasis in four regions of Cameroon, the overall rates of STH, ascaris, T. trichiura, and hookworm were 32.5%, 19.5%, 18.9%, and 7.6%, respectively, and ascaris, hookworm, and T. trichiura were 28.1%, 9.8%, and 6.3% in the North West Region [4].…”

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Protozoans Infections Amongst Patients Attending the Bamenda Regional Hospital

“…This study found that 81% of the population used latrines and was less infected than 17% using a water closet system toilet. These results were similar to those obtained by Kuete et al 22 , in a study carried out in the central prison of New Bell in Cameroon and according to these authors water closet system toilets are shared with people who are probably infected and adopt poor hygienic practices when using them.…”

Human and Environmental Reservoirs of Intestinal Parasites in the City of Yaoundé, Cameroon: An Update in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic

“…According to the WHO classification for STH risk [26], our study locations might be ranked into moderate to highrisk (≥20%), where recommends periodic mass deworming to at-risk people, administered at least once a year, when prevalence is more than 50%, deworming should be administered twice a year [27]. The trends of intestinal parasite burden are consistent with what has been previously reported from the study location [28], across the country [12,13,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] and elsewhere in tropical Africa [7,[37][38][39].…”