Improving community based AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunization) reporting rate through telephone "beep" in a Cameroon health district: a randomized field trial

Introduction: AEFIs underreporting is one of different barriers to achieving objectives of pharmaco vigilance of vaccine worldwide. Studies describe it as being related to limited awareness of health personnel and of vaccinees or of their parents. The objective was to assess the effect of telephone "beep" on community based reporting rates of AEFIs during routine immunization sessions in a Cameroon Health District.Methods: It was a randomized control trial implemented during routine EPI in Biyem-Assi health district (Cameroon). Parents of vaccinated children were randomly assigned: i) to receive the telephone contact of the investigation team and was advised to ''beep''(short phone call not picked up) the investigators team in the case any medical incidence occurs within the 30 days following the immunization (intervention group) or; ii) to return to the health facility in case any medical incidence occurs within the same period (control group). The main outcome was AEFI incidence rate.Results: 236 parents were assigned to the intervention group and 235 to the control group. Of 1192 doses of EPI vaccines administered, 20 AEFIs (392 AEFIs/100000 doses/week) were reported within 30 days after vaccine administration. These included 19 (829 AEFIs/100000 doses/week) AEFIs in the intervention group and 1 (43 AEFIs/100000 doses/week) AEFI in the control group. The AEFIs reporting rate in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in the control group [RR = 18.9; CI95 (2.5; 140.0) (P=0.0004)].Conclusion: The use of telephone "beep" significantly increases at affordable cost community based AEFI reporting rate in routine EPI.Keywords: EPI, telephone “beep”, AEFI, Cameroo

The expanded program on immunization service delivery in the Dschang health district, west region of Cameroon: a cross sectional survey

Dataset. (XLSX 86.4 kb

Research priorities for accelerating the achievement of three 95 HIV goals in Cameroon: a consensus statement from the Cameroon HIV Research Forum (CAM-HERO)

Introduction: the Treat-All remains the globally endorsed approach to attain the 95-95-95 targets and end the AIDS pandemic by 2030, but requires some country-level contextualization. In Cameroon, the specific research agenda to inform strategies for improving HIV policy was yet to be defined. Methods: under the patronage of the Cameroon Ministry of health, researchers, policy makers, implementing partners, and clinicians from 13 institutions, used the Delphi method to arrive at a consensus of HIV research priorities. The process had five steps: 1) independent literature scan by 5 working groups; 2) review of the initial priority list; 3) appraisal of priorities list in a larger group; 4) refinement and consolidation by a consensus group; 5) rating of top research priorities. Results: five research priorities and corresponding research approaches, resulted from the process. These include: 1) effectiveness, safety and active toxicity monitoring of new and old antiretrovirals; 2) outcomes of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) with focus in children and adolescents; 3) impact of HIV and ART on aging and major chronic diseases; 4) ART dispensation models and impact on adherence and retention; 5) evaluations of HIV treatment and prevention programs. Conclusion: the research priorities resulted from a consensus amongst a multidisciplinary team and were based on current data about the pandemic and science to prevent, treat, and ultimately cure HIV. These priorities highlighted critical areas of investigation with potential relevance for the country, funders, and regulatory bodies

Outcomes of the first meeting of the CAMEROON HIV RESEARCH FORUM (CAM-HERO)

Research is a vital component for the development of any country. In Cameroon, HIV Operational research is rapidly growing, however, it faces some intractable problems which can only be solved through an urgent, strategic, efficient, and collaborative approach involving key stakeholders. The Kribi meeting (09 and 10th December 2020) brought together under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Health leading HIV research organisations and connected HIV researchers and actors from different sectors. These actors disseminated and discussed recent research findings and worked out mechanisms to advance HIV research development, developed new ideas and identified priority research areas, with emphasis on translational research. The official launching and consolidation of Cam-HERO was a critical step and it is hoped that these synergistic efforts will catalyse attainment of the 95-95-95 goals in Cameroon

Timeliness and missed opportunities for vaccination among children aged 0 to 23 months in Dschang health district, West region, Cameroon: A cross-sectional survey.

Missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV) reflect quality of immunization service. The objective of this study was to assess vaccination timeliness, prevalence, and characteristics of MOVs among children aged 0-23 months, as well as knowledge, attitude and practice of health workers towards immunization. An exit interview method was used to select caregivers and health personnel. Selection took place in 26 health facilities within 14 health areas in the Dshcang Health district. Data were collected using two face-to-face questionnaires adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO) tools. We conducted an evaluation of all free vaccines in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). We studied timeliness, assessed MOV, and knowledge, behaviour and attitude of health workers on immunization. Basic statistical tests were used to study the association between MOV and socio demographic characteristics. A total of 363 children aged 0 to 23 months were surveyed. A total of 88 (91.66%) of health personnel agreed to participate in our study. A total of 298 (82.1%) children had vaccination cards with dates, leading to 18% not completely vaccinated. Vaccination timeliness ranged from 20% to 77%. Overall MOV estimated was 23.83%, range from 0% to 16.4% among all vaccines. Among health workers, 70.45% (62/88) had insufficient knowledge on vaccination, 73.86% assessed the vaccination status of children during any routine visit and 74% ask parents to bring the child's vaccination record to any health facility visit. The study highlighted presence of MOV among children. Strategies for remedying this includes strengthening parents' knowledge, organizing refresher courses for health workers on vaccination, and systematically assessing children's vaccination status

Pattern of antibiotics resistance and phenotypic characterization of Multidrug resistant bacteria isolates in four hospitals of Littoral region, Cameroon

Objective: To describe the pattern of antibiotics resistance and phenotypic characterization of Multidrug resistant bacteria isolates in four hospitals of Littoral region, Cameroon. Methods: We conducted a descriptive hospital based cross-sectional study from December 2018 to May 2019. A simple random sampling was used to swap 10 selected equipment and 10 materials in the mornings after disinfection but before the start of work in seven units. After inoculation in four agar media consecutively (Eosine Metyleine blue, Cled, Manitol salt agar and blood agar ) and incubated in appropriate conditions, the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion method was used for antimicrobial susceptibility test. Results: Among 50.4% (119/236) showed positive bacteria growth, a total of 89 (13 species), predominant bacteria and those more likely to cause nosocomial infections were selected and tested each one to 18 antibiotics. There was high level of resistance to Penicillin (amoxicillin (77.5%) and Oxacillin (76.4%)), followed by 3G Cephalosporine (Ceftazidime (74.2%)) and Monobactam (Aztreonam (70.8%)). Although the least level of resistance was observed in Carbapenem (imipenem (5.6%)). The overall prevalence of MDRB was 62.9% (56/89). MRSA were the mostly detected 57.5 % (30/89), followed by ESBL 10.1% (9/89). Military hospital of Douala and Emergency unit was the MDRBs dominantly contaminated area respectively 39.3% (22/56) and 17.9% (10/56). Conclusion: MDRB occurred to be a current public health problem as well as hospital surfaces are worrying reservoir that can be spread to patient, health professionals and visitors. Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, susceptibility test, multidrug-resistant bacteria, Hospital facilities, Units, Littoral Region-Cameroo