Hematuria and Dysuria in the Self-Diagnosis of Urinary Schistosomiasis among School-Children in Northern Cameroon

The present study was designed to assess the value of self reported hematuria and dysuria in the diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis at the individual level. A sample of 964 school children of grade 5 and 6 from 15 schools of the French speaking educational system in the Sudano-sahelian zone of northern Cameroon were submitted to a questionnaire related to hematuria and dysuria; and provided a urine sample each. The urine samples were processed using the dip stick and sedimentation methods; and the degree of microhematuria and oviuria determined. In all 964 questionnaires were collected; 843 urine samples examined for microhematuria and 871 for oviuria. The percentage of children reporting hematuria increased with the degree of microhematuria and the intensity of infection. Among the various indicators of urinary schistosome infection; microhematuria had the highest sensitivity (76); followed by self reported hematuria or dysuria (65); and dysuria (52). The specificity was highest for self reported hematuria; and lowest for self reported hematuria or dysuria. The efficiency of self reported hematuria or dysuria increased with the intensity of infection and was highest (100) for heavy infections ( 400 eggs/ml g urine). We advocate the use of self reported hematuria or dysuria for the assessment of S. haematobium at the individual level

Sanitation in schools in Yaounde : cause for concern

The objective of the study was to survey school sanitation facilities in two health districts in Yaounde. Questionnaires were administered to head teachers by medical students during the sanitary inspection of school premises. 15 out of 30 schools surveyed (50 percent) did not have the minimum number of toilets ; 25 schools (83 percent) did not have enough wash basins while 27 (90 percent) did not have enough urinals. All nursery schools had soap; toilet paper and hand towels in wash rooms as opposed to very few primary and secondary schools. School health nurses were not involved in health education and sanitation activities. Both head teachers and surveyors rated sanitation in the schools to be fair or poor in well over 59 percent of cases. Recommendations have been made for present Cameroonian sanitary norms to be updated and their strict application ensured