Background: Monitoring of the expanded program on immunization’s performance is not only limited to routine periodic reports but equally includes surveys. Based on unpublished national EPI surveillance data from the past 5 years in Cameroon, the Foumban health district has reported a high number of vaccine preventable disease suspected cases. Contradictory information on the immunization coverage in this district exists from both administrative data and published literature. As a result, the objective of this study was to estimate the immunization coverage and dropout rate in age group 12–23 months and timeliness in age group 0–59 months among children in Foumban Health District (Cameroon), in 2018. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study targeting randomly selected children aged 0–59 months from Foumban health district. Data were collected by trained and supervised surveyors using a pretested questionnaire to describe the immunization coverage, timeliness and dropout rate in eighty clusters of about thirty buildings selected by stratified random sampling in July 2018. Results: In total, 80 clusters covering 2121 buildings were selected and all were reached (100%). A total of 1549 (81.2%) households accepted to participate in the survey and 1430 children aged 0–59 months including 294 (20.6%) aged 12–23 months were enrolled into the study. Of these 1430 children, 427 [29.9 (27.4–32.2)%] aged 0–59 months were vaccinated with evidence. In the age group 12–23 months, the immunization coverage with evidence of BCG, DPT-Hi + Hb 3 and measles/rubella were 28.6(23.4–33.9)%, 22.8 (18.1–27.6)% and 14.3 (10.3–18.1)% respectively. Within age group 0–59 months; the proportion of children who missed their vaccination appointments increased from 23.3 to 31.7% for the vaccine planned at birth (BCG) and last vaccine planned (Measles/Rubella) for the EPI program respectively. In age group 12–23 months; the specific (DPT-Hi + Hb1–3) and general (BCG-Measles/Rubella) dropout rates of vaccination with evidence were 14.1 and 50.0% respectively. Conclusion: Documented immunization coverage, dropout rate and timeliness in Foumban Health district are lower than that targeted by the Cameroon EPI. Competent health authorities have to take necessary actions to ensure the implementation of national guidelines with regards to children access to immunization. Also, studies have to be conducted to identify determinants of low immunization coverage and delays in immunization schedules as well as high dropout rates.

Background: In Cameroon, the coverage, completeness, and timeliness of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) vaccines administration in children have remained heterogeneous and below the national and districts targets in several districts. In an effort to solve this problem, many interventions have been tested but none has shown significant improvement of the situation. Objective: This trial aims to test whether involving Community Volunteers to assess children vaccination status and demographic movements and using recorded data to plan catch-up immunization sessions can improve children vaccination timeliness, completeness and coverage. Methods: Communities of the Foumban Health district, West region of Cameroon will be selected and assigned to either intervention or control groups using a restricted randomization of 2. In the intervention group, one Community Volunteer per community will be trained to visit households and record EPI-targeted children in a register, record their demographic movements, and assess their immunization status monthly for a year. The information recorded will be snapped and sent to the competent health center immunization team through WhatsApp. These will be used to plan and implement monthly community catch up immunization sessions in collaboration with the community volunteer. In the control group, the routine immunization sessions will be conducted with health centers organizing either weekly vaccination sessions for communities situated not farther than 5 kilometers away from the health facility or monthly vaccination sessions in communities situated more than 5 kilometers away from the health center. Baseline, mid-term and end-line surveys will be conducted to assess and compare immunization coverage, timeliness, and completeness. Results: Funded in 2018, data collection started in 2018 and has been completed. Data analysis and reporting are ongoing. Conclusions: This trial is expecting to test an innovative approach to improving children’s immunization timeliness, completeness and coverage of immunization by tracking EPI targeted population vaccination status and denominator at household level and building collaboration between the community and health facilities vaccination teams to organize monthly community-based response vaccination sessions. This intervention is expected to improve children sustainable access to EPI vaccination as it offers assessing and responding to their immunization needs at monthly basis using low cost local human resources. Trial Registration: Pan African Clinical Trials Registry ID PACTR201808527428720; tinyurl.com/u058qnse International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/21734

INTRODUCTION: The study was to describe the epidemiological and histopathological features of gynecological malignancies in the city of Yaound?, Cameroon. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of histologically proven gynecological cancers over a 10-year period (2008-2017) in the Gynecology and Pathological Anatomy Departments of the University Teaching Hospital of Yaound?. RESULTS: A total of 682 cancers were identified among which, 342 gynecological cancers, for an overall frequency of 50.1% and an annual frequency of 34.2 cases on average. The trend was to increase the number of cancers diagnosed from one year to another. The cervix was the most frequent location with 182 cases (53.2%); followed by breast 96 cases (28.1%); endometrial 33 cases (9.7%) and ovaries 15 cases (4.4%). These patients were on average 51.9?13.7 years old, housewives (56.8%), married (60.4%), multiparous (61.3%) and referred (62.6%). Histopathologically, cervical cancer was predominantly squamous cell carcinoma (86.8%), invasive (80.9%) and well differentiated (45.5%). For breast cancers, the majority were ductal carcinomas (78.1%), invasive (92%), and histological grade SBR II (50.6%). The most common histopathological types of endometrial and ovarian cancer were adenocarcinoma (72.2%) and serous cystadenocarcinoma (46.7%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Gynecological cancers are common. Cervical cancer screening is expected to increase to 30 years for cervical cancer and start at age 40 with mammography for breast cancer.

Introduction: the prevalence of strokes is continuously growing in Africa. Morbidity and mortality related to this disease depend on patients management in the community and health care facilities (FOSAs). The purpose of this study was to describe the outcome and the therapeutic path of patients with stroke admitted to the Bafoussam Regional Hospital (BRH). Methods: we conducted a cohort non-controlled study of patients who were diagnosed with stroke. Data were collected using two tools such as an anonymous questionnaire among patients or on their pre-hospital management and a grid for the collection of data on patient's outcome during hospitalization. Data were analyzed by describing the frequency distribution of the sources and types of supports solicited prior to and during hospitalization as well as that of patients' outcome at the end of hospitalization including the incidence of complications. Results: a total of 46 patients were included in this study, with an average age of 62 years: 27(58.7%) were women and 37 (80.4%) were referred to other FOSAs. Four (8.7%) patients had taken products before their hospitalization; 2(4.3%) patients had taken a traditional product. Thirty-six (78.3%) patients had a cardiovascular history, of whom 22 with high blood pressure. Ten days after hospitalization, 32 (69.6%) patients resumed their autonomy and 5(10.9%) died. Conclusion: few patients used non-medical treatments before their arrival to hospital. Most of them underwent care in time, but the rate of hospital complications and deaths were high. A study should be conducted to determine the factors contributing to high rate of complications and death in patients hospitalized for stroke at the BRH.

: The movement of people contributes to the spread of COVID-19 between communities. Hence, we evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of offering intercity bus travelers testing prior to their departure. We conducted baseline and endline surveys to map COVID-19 prevention practices in travel agencies in western Cameroon. As interventions, buses were randomly assigned to three study arms: 1) offering systematic COVID-19 rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) to all passengers (arm A); 2) offering testing to suspected cases (arm B); or 3) no testing (arm C). All travelers were called 7–10 days after their trip to identify potential cases. Fifty-five (90.2%) of the 61 travel agencies that were reached consented to participate in a baseline survey. Although only 27 (49.1%) of the agencies implemented at least one of the recommended COVID-19 preventive measures, 39 (70.9%) agreed to host a testing station. Six agencies were selected, and 669 buses were enrolled, including 223, 224, and 222 in arms A, B, and C, respectively. A total of 31,484 departing passengers were approached and 9,594 (30.5%) agreed to participate: 1,177 (12.3%) in arm A, 4,086 (42.6%) in arm B, and 4,331 (45.1%) in arm C. In all, 1,731 tests were performed, including 1,177 in arm A and 554 in arm B. Fourteen (0.8%) tests were positive, and two participants (14.3%) agreed to postpone their travel. Offering testing with antigen RDTs in travel agencies is feasible and acceptable. One-third of passengers consented, and testing did not delay any travels. Although this approach can detect COVID-19 cases, actions are needed to increase the proportion of positive cases postponing their travels.

Oral cholera vaccination (OCV) is one of strategies to help control cholera with two doses recommended as initial vaccination and booster doses recommended 3–5 years later to prevent future outbreaks. There is no actual recommendation on the number of doses required during booster vaccination. An OCV campaign conducted in Mogode-Cameroon provided an opportunity to determine if revaccination four years after would induce a booster response. 350 people living in Mogode-Cameroon, who received 0, 1 or 2 doses of OCV four years earlier, were stratified into age groups, < 5, 5–14, and >14 and randomized into two arms. Arm A received a single dose and Arm B received two doses 14 days apart. We aimed to determine if people who had received OCV four years earlier responded with a booster immune response compared to those not vaccinated. Serum samples were collected at baseline and at multiple time points after vaccination to measure vibriocidal antibody titers. For Arm A, vibriocidal GMT significantly increased nine days after the first dose with a response rate of 61–70%; however, early vibriocidal response (day 4–6) was rare (22%) and were similar in those who had received vaccine four years earlier and those who did not. Ogawa, but not Inaba, vibriocidal responses were higher on day 9 for those who had been vaccinated earlier, but vibriocidal titers during subsequent timepoints were similar in all study arms. In Arm B, there were no early response (day 4–6) after the second dose. Overall, OCV induced a measurable immune response by day 9, but no evidence of a rapid booster response was detected following revaccination. Since there was no evidence that the earlier vaccination stimulated a booster response when vaccination is repeated, this suggests that persons being revaccinated should receive the two doses as was recommended initially. Trial registration: Pan African Clinical Trials Registry under the reference PACTR202102660004195 .