Mochungong Peter I K, Gulis Gabriel, Sodemann Morten
Unit for Health Promotion Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg.
University Teaching Hospital/Institute for Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
J Public Health Afr. 2011 Mar 1;2(1):e13. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2011.e13.
Clinical waste is ineffectively treated and disposed in Cameroon. Disposal sites have unrestricted access and are located within communities. We hypothesize that vector proliferation and exposure to chronic low-level emissions will increase morbidity in children living around such sites. Self-reported disease frequency questionnaires were used to estimate the frequency of new episodes of intestinal, respiratory and skin infections among exposed children less than 10 years. Data was simultaneously collected for unexposed children of the same age, using the same questionnaire. Data reporting by the parents was done in the first week in each of the 6 months study period. The risk ratios were 3.54 (95% CI, 2.19-5.73), 3.20 (95% CI, 1.34-7.60) and 1.35 (95% CI, 0.75-2.44) for respiratory, intestinal and skin infections respectively. Their respective risk differences were 0.47 (47%), 0.18 (18%) and 0.08 (8%). The study revealed that poor treatment and disposal of clinical waste sites enhance morbidity in children living close to such areas. Simple health promotion and intervention programs such as relocating such sites can significantly reduce morbidity.
喀麦隆的医疗废物处理和处置效率低下。垃圾处理场的进出不受限制，且位于社区内。我们推测，病媒繁殖以及接触慢性低水平排放物会增加生活在这些场所附近儿童的发病率。采用自我报告的疾病频率问卷来估算10岁以下受影响儿童肠道、呼吸道和皮肤感染新发病例的频率。使用相同问卷，同时收集了同龄未受影响儿童的数据。在为期6个月的研究期内，每个月的第一周由家长进行数据报告。呼吸道、肠道和皮肤感染的风险比分别为3.54（95%置信区间，2.19 - 5.73）、3.20（95%置信区间，1.34 - 7.60）和1.35（95%置信区间，0.75 - 2.44）。它们各自的风险差异分别为0.47（47%）、0.18（18%）和0.08（8%）。该研究表明，医疗废物处理场的处理和处置不当会增加生活在这些区域附近儿童的发病率。诸如迁移这些场所等简单的健康促进和干预项目可显著降低发病率。
