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Article History

Received: 16 May 2025

Accepted: 20 November 2025

First Online: 2 December 2025

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval to carry out this study was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences-Institutional Review Board of the University of Bamenda (2022/0792H/UBa/IRB of the 28th of February 2023) while administrative authorization was obtained from the Regional Delegation of Public Health for the South-West Region and the District Medical officers of the various hospitals that served as the sample collection sites. Consent to participate in the study was requested from participants after they were adequately informed of the study rationale, the procedures to be carried out on them, and the potential risks/benefits of participating in the study. They were also informed of the provision for privacy and confidentiality, and the right to pull out of the study at any time and still receive full medical care according to national guidelines. The informed consent form was written in simple English to enable all participants to read and understand and for participants who could not read and understand, the consent form was read and explained to them. Consent to participate in the study for minors was requested from the parent or legal guardian. Data/samples were only collected from participants who willingly accepted to be part of the study and signed the consent form. The study was carried out following the prescriptions of good clinical and laboratory practice as well as the Declaration of Helsinki.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.