[Human African trypanosomiasis: description of two pediatric cases in Yaoundé, Cameroon]. / Trypanosomiase humaine africaine: à propos de deux cas pédiatriques à Yaoundé, Cameroun.

During the first decades of the 20th century, about 45% of deaths in Cameroon were believed to be due to human African trypanosomiasis. Thanks to the screening and treatment campaigns implemented between 1926-1932, a considerable regression of the disease was achieved and, by the 1950s, only a few well-known and delimited foci remained. Today, human African trypanosomiasis is an extremely rare diagnosis, especially in children. The purpose of this report is to describe two cases of neuromeningeal human African trypanosomiasis that were discovered coincidentally in two children, ages 12 and 2 years. The children were from two villages in the center of Cameroon that is not considered as a known endemic focus. These two cases raise difficult questions about the possibility of latent endemic foci of human African trypanosomiasis and of animal-to-human transmission. The outcome was favorable in the first case and fatal in the second.

Resistant hypertension in Yaounde.

Sixty six consecutive patients with resistant hypertension were studied over a period of 12 months. During that same period 565 patients were seen in all for hypertension given an average prevalence of 11.7% of resistant hypertension. Men were more frequently affected, however mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were higher in women. Past history of poor compliance, overweight, renal impairment and cardiac abnormalities were important predictors of poor response to therapy. Resistance to therapy was not related to the class or the type of medication taken. Side effects were more numerous in the resistant group. Biochemically, apart from abnormal renal function tests, the other baseline tests were similar in both groups of resistant and non resistant hypertensives.