ABSTRACT
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by a slow-growing bacterium called mycobacterium TB. TB most often affects the lungs and is now the most deadly infectious disease killer globally. Despite the medical advances made during the 20th century in the curative treatment and implementation prevention strategies, TB remains a public health problem in Cameroon.Purpose: This study aims to analyze the spatial distribution of smear positive TB in Bafoussam town, strongly marked by promiscuity and pollution of various origins.Materials and Methods: Data used here derive from a cross-sectional study conducted in the city of Bafoussam in 2011. Both literature review and field investigations were undertaken using a questionnaire survey.Results: Analysis of the spatial distribution of smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) in Bafoussam highlights the existence of PTB cases clusters in some city health areas. Those clusters were favored by risk factors such as precariousness of housing, poverty, dwellings’ overcrowding, smoking, alcoholism, late treatment of patients, difficulties of access to health care, and ignorance of TB by infected persons.Conclusion: Routine use of cluster detection techniques as part of routine surveillance of TB in Cameroon through TB risk mapping and increased public awareness of TB among TB populations would help to better target the fight against TB
ABSTRACT
Although many African countries, along the equator, receive a great amount of rainfall and possess a dense hydrographic network, access to drinking-water remains a great challenge. In many households, water is used for various purposes, including domestic and crafts activities. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated four billion cases of diarrheoa occurs worldwide, of which 88% are ascribed to unsafe drinking-water. This study aimed at evaluating health risks in the usage of contaminated drinking-water and its relationship with the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases in Yaoundé, Cameroon. In this cross-sectional epidemiological design, 3,034 households with children aged less than five years were investigated. Households were selected from among 20 representative neighbourhoods out of 105 that made up the city. The study revealed a diarrheoa prevalence of 14.4% (437 diarrheoa cases out of 3,034 children tested). Among various risk factors examined, water-supply modes and quality of drinking-water were statistically associated with diarrheoa cases. Moreover, levels of diarrheoa attacks varied considerably from one neighbourhood to the other. The spatial analysis helped determine neighbourhoods of higher and lower prevalence of diarrheoa in the city.