[Malaria in the village of Yaounde (Cameroon). 3. Parasitological study in 2 central districts]

A parasitological study of malaria was carried out in two central districts of Yaounde (Cameroon) for one year. The Essos district was built near marshy shallows. The Obili district was comparable to Essos but there were many poorly maintained fish breeding pounds. Surveys were carried out quarterly in each district with a sample of 22 and 16 families at Essos and Obili respectively. The whole members of the families were examined. The study showed that the plasmodic index cumulated for the two districts was 25.4 +/- 2.7% (n = 960). The gametocytic index was 1.7 +/- 0.8% and the parasitic density was 310 parasites/microliters of blood. A significative difference in the plasmodic index was observed between the two districts: 28.7 +/- 3.6% (n = 592) in Essos and 20.1 +/- 4.1% (n = 368) in Obili (p < 0.02). The plasmodic index was higher in the 6 to 15 age group (37.5%) but the higher parasitic density was observed in the 0 to 5 age group (1,100 parasites/microliters of blood). Seasonal variations were noticed with the higher indexes in small dry season and the lower indexes in the big dry season.