Geohelminth Infections and Nutritional Status of Mbororo Children 2 - 15 Years in the Bafmeng Health Area, North West Cameroon

Background: Geohelminth infections are endemic in Cameroon affecting millions of people and have serious nutritional and developmental effects especially among children.

Aims: There is paucity of information on the prevalence, risk factors and nutritional effect of geohelminths on minority nomadic Mbororo communities in Cameroon, which is addressed herein amongst children 2-15 years in the Bafmeng Health Area.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional community based study was conducted between April 2021 and June 2021 in which 263 children, within the age 2-15 years were randomly recruited and a structured questionnaire was administered to them and their caregivers to obtain socio-demographic data, hygienic practices and knowledge of caregivers regarding geohelminth infections. A single-stool sample was obtained from each child and analyzed using the Kato-Katz technique and anthropometric measurements were also obtained and used to compute nutritional indices using the World Health Organization Anthro software. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify risk factors of geohelminth infections.

Results: The prevalence of geohelminth infections was 14.4% (38); Ascaris lumbricoides (11.41%), Trichuris trichuira (2.7%), and hook worm (0.4%). A total of 61.2% (161) of the children were malnourished; underweight (28.5%), stunting (19.0%), severe stunting (11.0%), severely underweight (1.9%), and wasting (0.8%). Geohelminth infection was not associated with nutritional status (P=0.4) but it was significantly (p=0.004) associated with males (21.9%) than females (8.7%). The use of unsafe water (P=0.03, AOR: 2.01, CI: 1.04 - 1.77) and dumping of waste around the compound (P=0.01, AOR=1.35, CI: 0.13 – 0.95) were risk factors significantly associated with geohelminth infection. Majority of the caregivers (75.3%) had good knowledge on the transmission and prevention of geohelminths.

Conclusion: On a whole, the prevalence of geohelminth infection is low and malnutrition is high amongst Mbororo children. Long-term control strategies should focus on improvements on environmental hygiene, provision of portable water along side nutritional interventions.