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Multicenter Study
. 2018 Nov 13:31:177.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2018.31.177.16390. eCollection 2018.

Seroprevalence of dengue virus among children presenting with febrile illness in some public health facilities in Cameroon

Salomon Bonsi Tchuandom  1   2 , Thibau Flaurant Tchouangueu  1   3 , Christophe Antonio-Nkondjio  4 , Abel Lissom  5 , Jean Olivier Ngono Djang  2 , Etienne Philemon Atabonkeng  1 , Assumpta Kechia  6 , Godwin Nchinda  3 , Jules-Roger Kuiate  1
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Seroprevalence of dengue virus among children presenting with febrile illness in some public health facilities in Cameroon

Salomon Bonsi Tchuandom et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Introduction: A routine diagnosis of Dengue virus (DENV) infection is not usually conducted in hospitals. Because symptoms overlap, many potential febrile illnesses due to DENV may be confused for malaria, typhoid or paratyphoid (enteric) fever. The absence of data on DENV exposure rates among children attending health facilities could undermine management of this disease. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in children presenting febrile illness in some public health facilities in Cameroon.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in children ≤ 15 years attending seven urban and three semi-urban public hospitals of Cameroon. From each volunteer, 2ml of whole blood was collected and tested for dengue virus IgM, malaria (Pf/Pan antigens) and enteric fever (Typhoid IgM) using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT); in order to allow the healthcare workers to quickly put the positive cases under appropriate treatment. Positive cases of dengue virus infection were confirmed by indirect ELISA. Data analysis were performed using the statistical package for social sciences software, version 22.1.

Results: A total of 961 children were enrolled in the study and 492 (51.2%) were infected with at least one of the three pathogens. Overall, DENV IgM seroprevalence among febrile children was 14.4% (138/961). About 390 (40.6%) and 22 (2.3%) had malaria (Pf/Pan Ag) and enteric fever (Typhoid IgM) respectively. Co-infection with dengue virus was found in 51 (5.3%) participants. The dengue virus IgM seroprevalence was higher in Bankim (19.3%), Ntui (18.3%) and Douala (18.2%).

Conclusion: Dengue virus infection seroprevalence appears to be low in children presenting with febrile illness in the studied health centres in Cameroon but call for more attention and research to further characterise the circulating strains of the dengue virus.

Keywords: Cameroon; Dengue virus; children; febrile illness; health facilities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Cameroon: location of the 10 study sites
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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