Malaria screening at the workplace in Cameroon

Abstract

Malaria remains a major health problem in Cameroon; It accounts for 38% of consultations, 24% of deaths and 36.8% of absenteeism in the country. The negative economic impact of malaria has encouraged a new control approach targeting companies. In this regard, a cross sectional study was conducted from February 2015 to June 2017 in 14 companies in the town of Douala. This study aimed at determining the prevalence, control practices of employees and identifying associated factors with malaria. A total of 2705 workers were interviewed and systematically screened for malaria using LED fluorescence microscopy (CyScope®). All positive cases were given a malaria treatment. The prevalence of malaria and asymptomatic malaria was 30.1% and 28.9% respectively; asymptomatic malaria accounted for 95.7% of all positive diagnostic test. Malaria infection was significantly higher in employees aged 36–60 years (30.5%) and having completed primary studies (36%). ITNs ownership and utilization were 86.36% and 77.23% respectively. The risk for malaria infection has significantly decreased with age and educational level while the employees’ level of education and size of households were significantly associated with the regular utilization of ITNs. This is the first study assessing malaria prevalence and risk factors in workplace in Cameroon and using a novel diagnostic tool. This study outlines a high prevalence of malaria infection, especially asymptomatic carriage, high rates of ITNs ownership and utilization, as well as the influence of level of education, age and household size as associated factors. Active case detection of asymptomatic carriers through systematic screening of employees at workplace and their treatment is feasible with the Cyscope microscope and could be a good complement to ongoing control strategies.

Insecticide Treated Net Ownership, Utilization and Knowledge of Malaria in Children Residing in Batoke-Limbe, Mount Cameroon Area: Effect on Malariometric and Haematological Indices

“…Children under ve years are more vulnerable to the disease in areas of high transmission [41] and it is often associated to the poorly developed immune system in this age group [42]. Observations from this study did not report any association between gender and Plasmodium infection, consistent with studies by Kwenti et al [43] and Mbohou et al [44] in other parts of the country.…”

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards Malaria among Employees from Enterprises in the Town of Douala, Cameroon

“…A recent study on malaria in some enterprises in Cameroon revealed 30.1% prevalence of the infection among employees [ 11 ]. Given the magnitude of the disease and its potential negative impact on businesses [ 12 ], enterprises should better commit in malaria prevention and control [ 13 , 14 ].…”

Comparison of the fluorescence microscopy Cyscope® with light microscopy for malaria diagnosis in a small and active surveillance in Cameroon

“…However, it has some drawbacks limiting its optimal utilization in African settings. These include mainly the need for skilled microscopist, good quality reagents and microscope, and electricity which is often lacking in resource-limited and difficult-to-reach areas [17,21,45,52]. In addition, the method is particularly time consuming which is not allow for prompt management of malaria cases.…”

“…The present study is part of a larger study on malaria carried out in some companies in the town of Douala, Littoral Region, Cameroon. The conditions and characteristics of the study site have been described elsewhere [21]. Briefly, Douala represents the economic capital with 35.1% of companies of Cameroon.…”

“…The climate of Douala is warm and humid with a constant temperature of about 26°C and very heavy rainfall, especially between June and October which facilitates malaria transmission. These two reasons have guided the choice of these sites [21].…”