Conference abstract
Environmental and human health stress around the Hygiene and Sanitation (HYSACAM) refuse dump sites in the city of Yaounde, Centre region, Cameroon
Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2023:18(164).03
Oct 2023.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2023.18.164.2282
Archived on: 03 Oct 2023
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: Refuse dumpsites, health stress, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Oral presentation
Environmental and human health stress around the Hygiene and Sanitation (HYSACAM) refuse dump sites in the city of Yaounde, Centre region, Cameroon
Nkengazong Lucia1,&, Mbafor Fidelia Lem2, Nguemaim Ngoufo Flore3, Ngame Ginnette Ngasse Irma1
1Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM)/MINRESi, Yaounde, Cameroon, 2University of Buea, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Cameroon, 3University of Bamenda, Faculty of Health Sciences, Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: increased urbanization in some developing countries contributes to increased household waste production. Inappropriate management of these wastes associated with environmental factors is crucial in the proliferation and dissemination of pathogens, posing thus an important public health problem. The objective is to investigate the presence of infecting agents and their impact on neighborhood population health stress around the refuse dumpsite collection points in Yaounde.
Methods: during the prospective and cross-sectional study, 60 environmental samples were collected from March to August 2019 from 60 sites and analyzed using the Ritchie, flotation zinc sulfate, and saturated salt centrifugation techniques. 250 stool samples were collected from the neighborhood populations aged 4 to 60 years from November 2019 to February 2020 and analyzed with formalin ether and Kato-Katz technics. Contamination risk factors were evaluated through administered questionnaires to participants. Chi-square test (χ2), ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test, and univariate and multivariate analysis were used to compare prevalence, egg load and sorted the correlation between pathogens infections and risk factors respectively
Results: environmental occurrence rate of pathogens (51.7%) included A. lumbricoides (38.3%); T. trichiura (18.3%); hookworms (18.3%); Fasciola hepatica (1.8%) and Schistosoma intercalatum (1.8%). Human infestation (82.9%) was caused by geohelminthiasis (16.7%): Ascaris lumbricoides (12.3%), Trichirus trichiura (3.2%), hookworms (5.5%); Protozosis: Entamoeba histolytica (11.5%) and Entamoeba coli (13.5%), and intestinal candidiasis: Candida sp. (76.1%). Infection rate varied significantly by neighborhood (P= 0.02). Contamination risk factors included distance between the residence and the collection point (P= 0.004); frequency of abdominal pain (P= 0.001); promiscuity (P= 0.005); water source supply (P= 0.002) and the distance between the water source and the collection point (P = 0.006).
Conclusion: the presence of infective agents around the refuse dump sites collection points and health stress in the neighborhood population indicate that the dumpsites are a favorable milieu for the pathogen's proliferation and dissemination. This creates awareness for the authorities in charge to improve the management of dumpsites and waste collection in Cameroon.
Environmental and human health stress around the Hygiene and Sanitation (HYSACAM) refuse dump sites in the city of Yaounde, Centre region, Cameroon
Nkengazong Lucia1,&, Mbafor Fidelia Lem2, Nguemaim Ngoufo Flore3, Ngame Ginnette Ngasse Irma1
1Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM)/MINRESi, Yaounde, Cameroon, 2University of Buea, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Cameroon, 3University of Bamenda, Faculty of Health Sciences, Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: increased urbanization in some developing countries contributes to increased household waste production. Inappropriate management of these wastes associated with environmental factors is crucial in the proliferation and dissemination of pathogens, posing thus an important public health problem. The objective is to investigate the presence of infecting agents and their impact on neighborhood population health stress around the refuse dumpsite collection points in Yaounde.
Methods: during the prospective and cross-sectional study, 60 environmental samples were collected from March to August 2019 from 60 sites and analyzed using the Ritchie, flotation zinc sulfate, and saturated salt centrifugation techniques. 250 stool samples were collected from the neighborhood populations aged 4 to 60 years from November 2019 to February 2020 and analyzed with formalin ether and Kato-Katz technics. Contamination risk factors were evaluated through administered questionnaires to participants. Chi-square test (χ2), ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test, and univariate and multivariate analysis were used to compare prevalence, egg load and sorted the correlation between pathogens infections and risk factors respectively
Results: environmental occurrence rate of pathogens (51.7%) included A. lumbricoides (38.3%); T. trichiura (18.3%); hookworms (18.3%); Fasciola hepatica (1.8%) and Schistosoma intercalatum (1.8%). Human infestation (82.9%) was caused by geohelminthiasis (16.7%): Ascaris lumbricoides (12.3%), Trichirus trichiura (3.2%), hookworms (5.5%); Protozosis: Entamoeba histolytica (11.5%) and Entamoeba coli (13.5%), and intestinal candidiasis: Candida sp. (76.1%). Infection rate varied significantly by neighborhood (P= 0.02). Contamination risk factors included distance between the residence and the collection point (P= 0.004); frequency of abdominal pain (P= 0.001); promiscuity (P= 0.005); water source supply (P= 0.002) and the distance between the water source and the collection point (P = 0.006).
Conclusion: the presence of infective agents around the refuse dump sites collection points and health stress in the neighborhood population indicate that the dumpsites are a favorable milieu for the pathogen's proliferation and dissemination. This creates awareness for the authorities in charge to improve the management of dumpsites and waste collection in Cameroon.
