A four-year-old boy with a history of stomach pain, vomiting and abdominal distension eventually landed on the operating table where surgeons manually removed dozens of “writhing” worms that had been living in his intestines.

The boy, who was not named in the case report but was said to live in Cameroon, West Africa, had no history of deworming since birth, which is typically a common practice in that region, Fox News reports.

The youngster’s mum had taken him to hospital after three days of stomach pain, vomiting and severe constipation.

He had also experienced bloating for around six months, according to an article published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. After being admitted, doctors carried out a number of tests and diagnosed the boy with ascariasis — a parasitic worm infection in the small intestine.

Doctors manually removed dozens of worms living in the stomach of a four-year-old.

“Ascariasis is the leading helminthic infection worldwide, with its peak prevalence noticed in children aged 2-10 years,” the authors wrote in the shocking article, which was published on May 24. “Although mainly asymptomatic, chronic and heavy infestation could lead to severe complications such as malnutrition, poor physical and cognitive development as well as intestinal obstruction.”

Upon examination, the boy’s doctors recognised a small bowel obstruction, which prompted them to make a 2cm cut. Surgeons then removed “bundles of ascaris lumbricoides worms” manually and “by milking through the stoma”.

The boy was given nutrients to rehydrate him and administered with paracetamol intravenously before doctors could operate.

Three days after being admitted, surgeons discovered his bowels were blocked by a “mass of writhing worms”.

An estimated 807 million to 1.2 billion people in the world are infected with ascaris lumbricoides — parasitic worms known as soil-transmitted helminths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The parasites live in the intestine, and eggs are passed in the faeces of infected people. If an infected person defecates outside, or if the faeces of an infected person are used in fertiliser, eggs are deposited on the soil. The eggs can then mature into a form of the parasite that is infective.

The shocking find was recorded recently in the Journal of Medical Case Reports.

Infection can occur when hands or fingers that have contaminated dirt on them are put in the mouth or by consuming vegetables or fruits that have not been carefully cooked, washed or peeled, according to the CDC. Heavy infections cause intestinal blockage and may impair growth in children. Other symptoms may present as a cough due to the migration of the worms through the body. It can be treated with medication, but in the boy’s case, surgeons decided to operate.

After the surgery, doctors dewormed the boy and his family members with an oral dose of mebendazole, and he was released after seven days. One week later, surgeons recorded his wounds had healed.

The authors noted that the boy’s case points to a larger public health issue in Cameroon, where deworming programs are affected by lack of funding and access in high-risk areas.

Source: News.Com

Cameroon has declared a public emergency after reporting a polio case in its far north, four years after the virus disappeared from the country, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The confirmed case of polio type 2 was found in the Mada area in the remote north bordering Chad and Nigeria, the ministry said in a statement.

It declared a “new polio epidemic following the confirmation of a case of poliovirus type 2 detected in samples.”

A source at the ministry said the outbreak may have been caused in part by a refusal of vaccinations and the cross-border movement of people in the area.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease which mainly affects young children and can result in permanent paralysis. There is no cure and it can only be prevented through immunisation.

International polio vaccination efforts have run into problems in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Militants and religious leaders in rural areas often tell locals immunisation is part of a shadowy conspiracy to weaken their faith.

Source: AFP

For Professor Torimiro, her research journey started years ago in the rainforests of Cameroon where she observed how hunter-gatherers live in close proximity to animals. At the time, she was among the first Cameroonian scientists to study zoonoses — disease or infections that are transmissible from animals to humans.

After years of study and postdoctoral research in clinical biochemistry and applied molecular biology in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, she returned to her country Cameroon, to support the national health system, teach and train health workers, and research infectious diseases that pose a risk to women and children.

From an assistant researcher to senior scientist

Since her return home in the 1990s, Professor Torimiro has helped create four health research institutions in Cameroon.

As Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Yaoundé I, she is a key figure in building academic capacities in molecular biology in her country and shaping Cameroon’s next generation of scientists. The research carried out by her students cuts across the use of molecular techniques to identify disease-associated genes to AIDS, hepatitis B, cancer, diabetes, fibroids and cardiovascular diseases. 

“Research output drives health policy and therefore patient management and care. In other words, responsible conduct in research yields reliable and accurate data that could be used for policy change,” she explains.

Professor Torimiro says that Cameroonian scientists are increasingly able to conduct research to international standards, thanks to better access to tools, facilities and training.

“Since I returned to Cameroon in 2005, I have done all my laboratory work in Cameroon without having to take a single specimen to Europe or the USA. This is a giant step in terms of capacity-building and retaining talents in Africa.”

Research that responds to health challenges

Professor Torimiro is driven by an interest in operational research because “research output, especially in low- and middle-income countries, is only useful and meaningful if it responds to the health challenges of the population,” she says.

While HIV diagnosis is routinely performed in health facilities in her country, early diagnosis and quality control remain a challenge. That is why she supports system-wide improvements. 

She is proud to have participated in a multi-disciplinary research group dealing with early infant diagnosis of HIV infection of children born to HIV-positive mothers and was instrumental to the creation of the national programme on this work, a key component of the National AIDS Treatment Programme. She later built capacities among health workers through international seminars on good clinical laboratory practice in the management of HIV/AIDS and co-infection of AIDS and hepatitis B patients.

“I wanted to transfer technical know-how, skills and competencies in research to gather evidence from populations in Cameroon that would make policy change possible in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS.” 

Professor Torimiro also leads a group of physicians, biologists, public health experts, career scientists and policymakers (including from Cameroon, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom) to research hepatitis B in pregnant and breastfeeding women and its impact on mother and child health. The aim is to improve cost-effective early diagnosis of hepatitis B infection among infants born to hepatitis B-infected mothers.

Women supporting women

Ever since her very first grant back in 1994, Professor Torimiro has dedicated herself to addressing the problems of AIDS, cancers and hepatitis among poor women in rural areas of Cameroon. 

For her outstanding achievements in maternal health, she received in 1999 the Award for Women’s Health from the Commonwealth. 

“I personally sponsored many screening campaigns for cervical and breast cancer, as well as free screening for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C,” she says.

This initiative was supported by national authorities and in particular the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, and involves various women’s associations in Cameroon. She also trains and mentors junior female scientists in health research.

“I was and still am motivated to study how viruses move from a pregnant woman to her fetus and the differential clinical outcomes for the infant,” she says, confirming that her work aims to help women suffering from sexually transmitted diseases (syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV and hepatitis B).

Professor Torimiro says she has seen a big change in the success of treating sexually transmitted diseases among rural women in her country. More women are assertive in addressing sexually transmitted infections and are committed to engage in addressing them.

What more needs to be done? Integrate early diagnosis of other bloodborne pathogens (such as hepatitis B virus that can be transmitted from mother-to-child) among pregnant women into routine antenatal care services, and for free.

Source: WHO

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns the Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could spread to urban areas and across international borders because of heightened insecurity and a serious shortage of money. DR Congo Ministry of Health reports 1,739 cases of Ebola, including 1,147 deaths, which indicates a 66 percent fatality rate.

The Ebola epidemic in conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces started 40 weeks ago on August 1. What is particularly frightening about the latest situation report is that 20 percent of overall cases have occurred in just the last three weeks.

The International Red Cross Federation finds this sharp upsurge alarming. It is urging the international community to redouble its efforts to contain this deadly virus before it escalates further.

The IFRC’s Director of Health and Care, Emanuele Capobianco, says the Ebola response faces a double jeopardy of insecurity and critical underfunding. He says the security situation is complex and will require a range of responses. But he notes the funding situation could be fixed now.

“At the moment, the financial situation for many of the humanitarian organizations is quite dire,” he said. “There is a real need to step up the response. Otherwise, activities will have to be scaled down and the impact on the future of the epidemic will be extremely serious.”

People who get infected with the Ebola virus have a very high risk of dying. Studies from the 2014 historic outbreak in West Africa show that between 60 and 80 percent of Ebola cases were linked to Ebola-infected bodies at traditional burials.

Capobianco says Red Cross efforts to provide communities with safe and dignified burials are meeting with increasing success.

“Up to now, there have been up to 5,000 safe and dignified burials conducted and they are conducted for, as I mentioned before, the people who died either in the community or the Ebola treatment centers of Ebola confirmed,” he said. Also, for people who may be just suspected of Ebola. And, that is why the number of 5,000 is so high. That is a critical part of the work that we have done and which, at the moment is threatened by the lack of funding.”

Capobianco says the Red Cross has received less than half of the $30 million it needs to carry out its Ebola-control activities across affected parts of DR Congo, as well as preparedness efforts in neighboring Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.

He warns Red Cross operations will be forced to close within the next two weeks without additional urgent investment.

Source: VOA

Congo’s Ebola epidemic is expected to continue spreading though the country’s east, where it has killed 1,000 since August and sparked mistrust and frequent attacks on medical centers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The WHO plans to expand vaccination in that part of Democratic Republic of Congo in coming weeks once a new treatment by Johnson & Johnson is approved. It is already using another experimental vaccine made by Merck .

Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said vaccine supplies were plentiful, but accessing target communities to administer them and treat patients was being hampered by hostility towards medical staff.

Security incidents continued to plague efforts to halt the outbreak, with 119 documented attacks since January, he said.

As a result, “we are anticipating a scenario of continued intense transmission,” Ryan told a news briefing.

“We haven’t exceeded the 1,000 (deaths) as of this morning but we will likely exceed that today when we see the numbers later this evening… You want to use every tool in the box.”

The Merck vaccine will still be used in ‘ring vaccination’ of people exposed to the virus and their contacts, he said. But WHO was also studying use of a single dose to stretch supplies, an option experts would review on Monday.

More than 100,000 people have been vaccinated so far, and the treatment has been highly effective, WHO says.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be deployed outside the rings in surrounding areas to protect people from infection, “as a way of laying down a barrier to the virus”, Ryan said.

Militiamen attacked a hospital treating Ebola patients two weeks ago, killing a senior WHO epidemiologist and wounding two others, officials said at the time.

The attacks curtail humanitarian access, slowing efforts to vaccinate more than 900 people a day as well as daily checks on some 12,000 people potentially exposed to the virus, Ryan said.

“We still face major issues of community acceptance and trust,” he said.

There was an attempted assault on an Ebola treatment facility in Butembo on Thursday, he said, adding that nobody was injured and the assailants were captured.

(Source: Reuters)

The killing of a Cameroonian doctor is a chilling reminder of the difficulties health workers face as they combat the Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization (WHO), was killed in an attack on Apr. 19 at the university hospital in Butembo in DRC’s North Kivu Province. Two others were injured. His body was flown back home to Cameroon where he is survived by a wife and four young children the WHO said.

WHO’s director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the attack as “extremely heartbreaking” and said his office was assessing security arrangements for its staff and patients.

“The death of Dr Mouzoko also underscores that when health workers are targeted and attacked, it has huge ripple effects that are felt by the people they served, the communities in need, and of course their loved ones, friends and co-workers. It’s a loss for everyone, everywhere” – Dr Tedros said on Twitter.

The outbreak in DR Congo is the second largest and second deadliest Ebola outbreak the world has ever experienced and it is DR Congo’s ninth outbreak since 1976 when the disease was first discovered there. In its latest update on the outbreak, the WHO said: “As of 16 April, a total of 1290 confirmed and probable Ebola viral disease cases have been reported, of which 833 died (case fatality rate 65%).”

This is not the first time health workers have been attacked in the volatile northeast of DR Congo, near its borders with Rwanda and Uganda and where for years the government has been unsuccessful at countering rebel activities.

In February, two separate attacks on Ebola treatment centers forced the medical charity, Doctors Without Borders to evacuate staff and suspended medical services in the epicenter of the outbreak, Butembo and Katwa.

In March, an attack on another treatment center killed a police officer and injured others. Shortly after the attack that killed Dr Mouzoko, there was another attack on a treatment facility in which one assailant was killed and four others were captured.

Violent attacks in North Kivu province, is disrupting outreach efforts by medical teams to treat confirmed and probable cases of Ebola and affecting their ability to reach individuals at risk of the disease by virtue of coming into contact with an infected person.

Mass vaccination has helped to prevent more infections and death according to a preliminary report on the efficacy of the trial vaccine released earlier this month. Of the 93,965 at-risk people who consented to vaccination, 71 cases were confirmed and nine deaths occured. There have been no deaths recorded in vaccinated people who showed symptoms more than 10 days after the trial vaccine was administered.

Source: Quartz Africa

Cameroon customs seized tonnes of smuggled drugs and fuel in the economic capital, Douala, late Sunday in its latest move to curb the inflow of “overseas dangerous and illicit” drugs and goods into the country, customs officials said in a statement Monday.

According to the customs, the drugs including 100,051 tramadol pills, 100,072 combiart tablets and 7,000 liters of fuel were seized in an operation that involved Cameroon Marine and Cameroon customs brigade in charge of combating illicit trade.

The illicit goods were smuggled from a neighboring country through Cameroon’s seaport in Tiko locality and then transported to Douala in a “heavy duty truck”, the officials, said adding that the suspects have been remanded in custody.

According to Cameroon police, tramadol is one of the most abused substances in the country and is making its way into schoolyards.

“There is growing addition to the pills which are readily available on black market. The opioid is also known to be used by terrorists in the country to boost courage and commit atrocities. It is also widely used by students. So we are doing all we can to put an end to this malaise,” a police officer, Emmanuel Watat revealed.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon health minister, inked April 4 a decision setting terms for accessing & monitoring HIV testing services and population care in public health facilities.

According to the document, the rapid HIV screenings will be free of charge as of January 1st, 2020. Other free services are also planned for people living with the virus. These are medical and prenatal consultations including booklets, medical records, biological follow-up examinations (CD4 and viral load), early HIV testing for children, antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and drugs to prevent opportunistic infections and others.

The official points out that reagents and medicines for all the above-mentioned examinations and services, in accordance with the national guidelines in force, are provided free of charge to health facilities and laboratories selected under the program. “Failure to comply with this decision or the application of informal costs to the services mentioned above will be subject to sanctions,” warns the department.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroon recorded a decline in number of HIV/AIDS infections in the last seven years, according to Minister of Public Health Malachie Manaouda.

Prevalence rate fell from 4.3 percent in 2011 to 3.4 percent in 2018 due to increase in financing and the “massive scale-up” of sensitization, prevention and treatment measures, Manaouda said on Wednesday.

The figures were made public during an evaluation meeting of the National Aids Control Committee held in the capital, Yaounde.

According to the committee, in terms of absolute numbers, over 500,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon and new infections are common among youths between 15 and 24 years, young girls are hit hardest.

Sixteen thousand newborn babies from infected mothers were taken care of in 2018, statistics from the committee indicated.

As part of measures to reduce new infections by the year 2022, Cameroon has announced it will conduct monthly campaign on behavioral change, increase intensive care and test over 2 million people, especially women.

Source: Xinhuanet