Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:32:20.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Malnutrition and intestinal helminth infections in schoolchildren from Dibanda, Cameroon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2012

J.V. Mbuh  and
N.E. Nembu
J.V. Mbuh*
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Cameroon
N.E. Nembu
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Cameroon
*
* E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Intestinal helminth infections and malnutrition constitute a major health burden in developing countries, with infants and children being the most vulnerable groups. The extent of the burden of intestinal helminth infections and malnutrition was investigated in a cross-sectional study involving 265 children aged between 4 and 14 years residing in Dibanda, a semi-rural area located in Buea, South West Region, Cameroon. The prevalence of intestinal helminth infections was determined microscopically after faecal samples were prepared by the formol-ether sedimentation concentration technique of stool analysis. Nutritional status was determined using age and the anthropometric parameters of weight and height. Standard deviation (SD) or Z scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ) were computed based on the World Health Organization 2006 growth reference curves. Anaemia was assessed by packed cell volume (PCV). The prevalence of intestinal helminth infection in the study population was 47.2% (125/265). All infections were of low intensity, with Ascaris recording the highest geometric mean egg count (GMEC) ±  SEM of 363.51 ± 60.35 (egg count range: 76–3000 eggs/gram of stool). Overall, 42.3% of children had PCV < 31%. Also, 47.2% of those with intestinal helminth infections also had PCV < 31%. The prevalence of malnutrition was 30.2% (80/265). Of 80 malnourished children, 5.3% were wasted ( < − 2SD weight-for-height Z-score), 7.2% underweight ( < − 2SD weight-for-age Z score) and 24.2% stunted ( < − 2SD height-for-age Z score). The mean values of all the anthropometric indices were lower in helminth-infected children. Findings from this study are strongly suggestive that intestinal helminth infections and malnutrition exist in children residing in Dibanda and constitute a major health problem that needs to be addressed immediately to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 87 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 46 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ash, L.R. & Orihel, T.C. (1991) Parasites: A guide to laboratory procedures and identification. pp. 17, 23–24, 76. Chicago, American Society for Clinical Pathology Press.Google Scholar
Bleakley, H. (2007) Disease and development: evidence from hookworm eradication in the American South. Quarterly Journal of Economics 122, 73–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheesbrough, M. (2005) District laboratory practice in tropical countries, Part 2. 2nd edn.pp. 274–279, 295–302, 310. Cambridge, Cambridge Low Price Editions.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, D.W. & Nesheim, M.C. (2002) Nutritional impact of intestinal helminthiasis during the human life cycle. Annual Review of Nutrition 22, 35–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garba, C.M.G. & Mbofung, C.M.F. (2010) Relationship between malnutrition and parasitic infection among school children in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 9, 1094–1099.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, A. (1993) Intestinal parasitic worms and the growth of children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 87, 241–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hotez, P.J., Bathony, J., Bottazzi, M.E., Brooker, S. & Buss, P. (2005) Hookworms: ‘The great infection of mankind’. PLoS Medicine 2, e67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurtado, M., Lambourne, C.A., James, P., Hill, K., Cheman, K. & Baca, K. (2005) Human rights, biomedical science, and infectious disease among South American indigenous groups. Annual Review of Anthropology 34, 639–665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynnes, S.G. & Bruckner, D.A. (1997) Diagnostic medical parasitology. 3rd edn. pp. 614–616. Washington DC, The American Society for Microbiology Press.Google Scholar
Mbuh, J.V., Ntonifor, H.N. & Ojong, J.T. (2010) The incidence, intensity and host morbidity of human parasitic protozoan infections in gastrointestinal disorder outpatients in Buea Sub Division, Cameroon. Journal of Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries 4, 38–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MINSANTE (2004) The Minister of Public Health launches the National Programme of the fight against schistosomiasis and helminthiasis in Cameroon. La Sante au Quotidien 2, 1–2.Google Scholar
Ndamukong, K.J.N., Ayuk, M.A., Dinga, J.S., Akenji, N.T., Ndiforchu, V.A. & Titanji, V.P.K. (2000) The pattern of soil transmitted nematode infections in primary school children in the Kumba Health District, South West Cameroon. African Journal of Health Science 7, 103–106.Google ScholarPubMed
Ratard, R.C., Kouemeni, L.E., Ekani, M.M., Ndamkou, C.N., Sama, M.T. & Cline, B.L. (1991) Ascariasis and trichuriasis in Cameroon. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 85, 84–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ritchie, L.S. (1948) An ether sedimentation technique for routine stool examinations. Bulletin of the US Army Medical Department 8, 326.Google ScholarPubMed
Sakisaka, K., Wakai, S., Kuroiwa, C., Cuadra, F.L., Kai, I., Mercedes, A.M. & Hanada, K. (2006) Nutritional status and associated factors in children aged 0–23 months in Granada, Nicaragua. Public Health 120, 400–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steketee, R.W. (2003) Pregnancy, nutrition and parasitic diseases. Journal of Nutrition 133, 1661S–1667S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephenson, L.S. (1991) Control of helminth disease: the Kenyan experience. Paper presented at the Conference on Health of School-Age Children, Bellagio, Italy.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2002) Prevention and control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Technical Report Series 912. Geneva, WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization, Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group (2006) WHO child growth standards: length/height-for-age, weight-for-age, weight-for-length, weight-for-height and body mass index-for-age: methods and development. Geneva, WHO. Available at http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/technical_report/en/index.html (accessed 20 January 2012).Google Scholar