RESUMEN
Aims: This study was aimed at generating updated baseline data on co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever and finding out the implications of these co-infections in disease severity. Study Design: The study was cross-sectional. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Kumba, Southwest Cameroon from May to July, 2010. Methodology: Venous blood was collected from 206 febrile patients of both sexes aged 4-80 years old at the Kumba District Hospital. Malaria parasite density and speciation were determined using Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood films respectively. Typhoid fever was diagnosed by isolation and characterisation of the aetiologic agent from stool samples in 178/206 patients. Antimicrobial susceptibility of recovered isolates was determined by the disc diffusion method. Anaemia status, Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspatate aminotransferase (AST) values were determined. Results: Overall malaria prevalence was 90.3% (186/206) while geometric mean parasite density (GMPD) was 866 (range: 40 – 64880) parasites/μL of blood. Plasmodium falciparum was the most prevalent Plasmodium species. Overall prevalence of typhoid fever was 7.9% (14/178) while malaria/typhoid fever co-infection rate was 6.74% (12). Of the 14 typhoidal Salmonella isolates recovered, 6 were identified as Salmonella typhi and 8 as S. paratyphi. The Salmonella isolates were all susceptible to ciprofloxacin and gentamycin. Patients co-infected with malaria/typhoid fever had a significantly higher (P = .007) GMPD (1203, range: 100-64880 parasites/μL) when compared to patients with mono-infections of malaria (774, range: 40-18660 parasites/μL). Abnormal ALT and anorexia prevalence values were significantly higher (P=.01 and P =.045 respectively) in patients with only typhoid fever than their counterparts. The values of anaemia and AST were comparable in all groups of patients. Conclusion: This study confirms that co-infections of malaria and typhoid fever are common and may exacerbate malaria intensity.
RESUMEN
Salmonella spp. have been extensively incriminated worldwide as common causes of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans, with food-animals serving as important reservoirs. The study was aimed at investigating cattle and pigs slaughtered in Buea as reservoirs of Salmonella Typhimurium and the susceptibility of isolates to antibiotics. In total, 230 specimens (comprising 50 each from the rectum, ileum, and gall bladder of cattle; and 10 each from same anatomical sites of pigs and 50 from abattoir drains) were analyzed for Salmonella using the standard microbiological, biochemical and serological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was determined by the Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion test. The isolates were characterized into biotypes using the API 20E kit, and results were analyzed using the chi-square test. Seventy-five (32.6%) of the 230 specimens were positive for S. Typhimurium, with pigs and abattoir drains presenting the highest level of isolation (40%). Biochemical typing grouped the isolates into five biotypes. Biotype I was the most prevalent (30.6%) while biotype IV was the least prevalent (9.3%) and was absent in samples from pigs. Antibiotic susceptibility studies revealed 14 antibiotypes based on antibiotics used in the study. The predominant antibiotype AMXR DOXRCEFR was recorded in 13 (17.3%) of the isolates. Multidrug resistance (to four or more antibiotics) was recorded in 50.7% (38/75) of the isolates. The most active drugs were ciprofloxacin (98.6%), ofloxacin (93.3%), amikacin (90.6%), and gentamicin (84%). All the isolates (100%) were resistant to tetracycline and ampicillin. Cattle and pigs were found to be reservoirs of S. Typhimurium in the environment of Buea, Cameroon, implying that foods from these sources, if not properly handled, could serve as vehicles for its transmission to humans.