Traditional use of indigenous mosquito-repellents to protect humans against mosquitoes and other insect bites in a rural community of Cameroon

Objective: To document and test the efficacy of indigenous traditional personal protection methods against mosquito bites and general nuisance.Design: A prospective study based on a survey and field evaluation of selected plant-based personal protection methods against mosquito bites.Setting: Bolifamba, a rural setting of the Mount Cameroon region.Subjects: A structured questionnaire was administered to 179 respondents and two anti-mosquito measures were tested under field conditions.Main Outcome Measures: Identified traditional anti-mosquito methods used by indigenes of Bolifamba. Two plants tested under field conditions were found to be effective.Results: Of the 179 respondents, 88 (49. 16%) used traditional anti-mosquito methods; 57 (64.77%) used plant-based methods while 31 (35.2%) used various petroleum oils. The rest of the respondents, 91 (50.8%) used conventional personal protection methods. Reasons for using traditional methods were because they were available, affordable and lack of known more effective alternatives. The demerits of these methods were: labourious to implement, stain dresses, produce a lot of smoke/repulsive odours when used; those of conventional methods were lack of adequate information about them, high cost and non-availability. When the two most frequently used plants, Saccharum officinarium and Ocimum basilicum were evaluated under field conditions, each gave a better protection than the control.Conclusion: Most plants used against mosquitoes in the area are known potent mosquito repellents but others identified in the study warrant further research. The two tested under field conditions were effective though less than the commonly used commercial diethyltoluamide

Co-infections of malaria and soil-transmitted helminths in localities with different levels of urbanisation in the Mount Cameroon region

Malaria co-exists with intestinal helminths and they have different effects on infected individuals. A total of 235 and 208 children from Ekona and Great Soppo respectively of both sexes aged 4–14 years were enrolled into a cross-sectional study. Capillary blood was collected for detection and determination of malaria parasitaemia as well as PCV. Stool samples were collected for quantitative determination of helminth ova by Kato-Katz technique. The prevalence of malaria and helminths was higher in Ekona than Great Soppo. In Great Soppo, Trichuris was the most prevalent helminth than Great Soppo and an association was found between these co-infections. More children were co-infected in Ekona and co-infecting species were Ascaris and Plasmodium falciparum. The prevalence of malaria and intestinal helminths as well as co-infection was lower in Great Soppo than in Ekona, probably due to increased urbanization in Great Soppo than Ekona