Asymptomatic Carriage of Salmonella and Intestinal Parasites in Pupils in Yaounde

Background: Feco-oral transmitted diseases (FOTD) remain a public health issue, particularly in developing countries. Data concerning the carriage of Salmonella and intestinal parasites in children are available worldwide but are lacking in Cameroon. This study aimed to determine the asymptomatic carriage of Salmonella and intestinal parasites in children of two primary schools in Yaounde. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from October 2017 to May 2018 in two primary schools (from rural and urban areas) in the 7th precinct of Yaounde. Sociodemographic, clinical and paraclinical (rectal swab, direct examination of fresh stool and bacteriological culture on Hektoen medium) data were collected. Results: We included 368 (192 boys) pupils from both schools (184 in each school) with a mean age of 8.99 ± 2.21 years. None of the children was infected by Salmonella spp. Intestinal parasite prevalence was 9.80% (6.52% of children from the urban school vs 13.04% from the rural ones). The intestinal parasite prevalence tended to be higher in girls than in boys (11.98% vs. 7.39%). Among intestinal parasites, protozoa were the most widely found. Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia intestinalis were the most prevalent pathogenic intestinal protozoa (11.11% vs. 25% of all positive stool exams). The helminths, less frequent, were represented by Ascaris lumbicoides and Enterobius vermicularis. The factors associated with intestinal parasite carriage were mainly rural school location and age between 11 - 13 years. Conclusion: Among children in primary school, Salmonella infection was absent, while intestinal parasites are frequent, represented mostly by protozoa. This parasitism is in our cohort associated with the rural school location and the 11 - 13 years age group. This suggests that there is additional room for the implementation of prevention measures for intestinal parasite infections in our setting.