Health Risks Associated with Sanitation Methods in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Résumé 0

Diarrhoeal diseases are a major public health problem in developing countries. They have assumed an endemic and epidemic profile in the developing world as attested by the recent upsurge in epidemics of (a) cholera in Angola and Cameroon, (b) dysentery in Sudan, Central African Republic, Bolivia, Paraguay, and (c) typhoid fever in Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti. Striking recent evaluations show that they are a major cause of infant mortality between the weaning age and five years: 1.8 million infants have died from diarrhoeas in 2005. From an aetiological and epidemiological perspective, they are associated with poor and unhealthy living conditions. This situation motivated a cross-sectional study relating to children aged 6 to 59 months, which was carried out in May 2002 in Yaoundé (Cameroon). The objectives of the study were to identify risks factors of diarrhoeal diseases in the city, to measure their prevalence and to grasp their spatial distribution. Field investigation comprised two aspects: a socioenvironmental aspect and a medical survey. The microbiological examinations showed a prevalence of 14,4% (437 diarrhoea cases among the 3 034 examined children). Among the risk factors investigated, cleansing practices of faeces proved to be strongly associated with these diarrhoeas. Moreover, it has appeared that levels of diarrhoeal attack varied considerably from one district to another because of disparities in the urbanization process of Yaoundé metropolis.