Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, no global consensus treatment has been developed and generally accepted for the disease. However, eradicating the disease will require a safe and efficacious vaccine. In order to prepare for the eventual development of a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine and to enhance its uptake, it is imperative to assess vaccine hesitancy in Cameroonians. After obtaining ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Buea, a questionnaire was administered (May–August 2020) to consenting adults either online or in person. A qualitative thematic analysis was done to analyze the participants’ answers to the open questions. A deductive approach was used, that is, the codes and patterns according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group Matrix of Determinants of vaccine hesitancy. The number of consenting adult Cameroonians who completed the questionnaire were 2512 (Two thousand five hundred and twelve). Vaccine hesitancy to a COVID-19 vaccine was 84.6% in Cameroonians. Using the WHO recommended Matrix of Determinant of Vaccine hesitancy, the most prominent determinants observed in this study were: Communication and Media Environment, Perception of pharmaceutical industry, Reliability and/or source of vaccine and cost. Most Cameroonians agree that even though there are benefits of a clinical trial, they will prefer it should be done out of the continent and involving African scientists for eventual acceptance and uptake. The concerns of safety, efficacy and confidence has to be addressed using a Public Engagement approach if a COVID-19 vaccine has to be administered successfully in Africa or Cameroon specifically. Since this study was carried out following WHO standards, its result can be compared to those of other studies carried out in different cultural settings using similar standards.

Malaria in Cameroon is due to infections by Plasmodium falciparum and, to a lesser extent, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale, but rarely Plasmodium vivax. A recent report suggested “Plasmodium vivax–like” infections around the study area that remained unconfirmed. Therefore, molecular and antigenic typing was used to investigate the prevalence of P. vivax and Duffy in asymptomatic adults resident in Bolifamba.

Background: Malaria is a major public health threat in Africa, and traditional medicine continues to play a key role in its control especially in rural areas. A bioassay-guided fractionation was carried out in order to evaluate the anti-malarial potential and the safety of the methanol extract of the Hypericum lanceolatum stem bark. Methods: The anti-plasmodial activity was assayed by the lactate dehydrogenase method (pLDH) against the multidrug-resistant W2mef laboratory strain, and a field isolate (SHF4) of Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out using the LLC-MK2 monkey kidney epithelial cells. Results: Five compounds were isolated from the most active and least cytotoxic ethylacetate sub-extract: betulinic acid (HLT1), 2,2',5,6'-tetrahydroxybenzophenone (HLT2), 5-hydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (HLT3), 3-hydroxy-5-methoxyxanthone (HLT4) and HLT0 (yet to be identified). Three of the tested compounds presented significant anti-plasmodial activities (with 50% inhibitory concentration, IC₅₀ < 5 μM), with 5-hydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone exerting the highest activity, followed by HLT0 and betulinic acid. All the compounds with significant anti-plasmodial activity were non-cytotoxic, except betulinic acid which showed a 50% cytotoxic concentration, CC₅₀ of 25 μg/mL. Conclusions: These findings justify the use of H. lanceolatum stem bark as anti-malarial by traditional healers of Western Cameroon, and could constitute a good basis for further studies towards development of new drug candidates or phytomedicines for malaria.