Does export dependency hurt economic development? Empirical evidence from Singapore

A rapid export growth in East Asia was once identified as a source of the sustainable economic development that the region enjoyed. However, the current global recession has turned exports from an economic virtue to a vice. There is a growing awareness that a heavy reliance on exports has caused a serious economic downturn in the region. The present paper chooses Singapore as a case study to examine the relationship between the origin of the East Asian Miracle (i.e. export dependency) and the economic growth. For this purpose, the study employs a causality test developed by Toda and Yamamoto. The empirical findings indicate that despite a negative long-run relationship between export dependency and economic growth, Singapore's heavy reliance on exports does not seem to have produced negative effects on the nation's economic growth. This is because the increase in export dependency was an effect, and not a cause, of the country's output expansion.

Bacteraemia among Severely Malnourished Children in Jimma University Hospital, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Sever acute malnutrition severely suppresses every component of the immune system leading to increased susceptibility and severity to infection. However, symptoms and signs of infections are often unapparent making prompt clinical diagnosis and early treatment very difficult. The aim of the study was to determine the magnitude of bacteraemia and antimicrobial sensitivity among severely malnourished children. METHODS: Severely malnourished children admitted in Jimma University Specialized Hospital were enrolled between October, 2009 to May, 2010. Blood samples were collected, processed and bacterial isolates were identified using standard bacteriological procedures. Then, antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates was determined by using Kirby-Bauer technique. RESULTS: Bacteraemia was seen in 35 (20.6%) of the 170 study subjects. There were a total of 35 bacterial isolates, Gram positive bacteria constitute 24(68.6%) of the isolates, where Staphylococcus aureus was the leading Gram positive isolate while Klebsiella species were the dominant Gram negative isolates. Twelve (7.1%) children died and 4 (33.3%) of them had bacteraemia. While susceptibility was more than 80% to Gentamicin, Ciprofloxacin and Ceftriaxone, increased level of resistance was documented to commonly used antibiotics, such as Amoxycillin, Co-trimoxazole and Chloramphenicol. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of bacteraemia with predominating Gram positive isolates and increased level of resistance to commonly used antibiotics was shown among severely malnourished children in Jimma. Further studies are required to revise the current guideline for antibiotic choice. KEYWORDS: Bacteraemia, severe acute malnutrition, Antimicrobial susceptibility, JimmaEthiop J Health Sci. Vol. 21, No. 3 November 201

Dog bite as a public health concern in Addis Ababa

Introduction: Animal bites and scratches represent the most important public health issue related to dogs and cats because of the risk of rabies transmission associated with physical, psychological trauma and wound infection. Objective: The study was aimed at estimating the prevalence of animal bite of human beings in Addis Ababa. Methods: Data on the kind of animal, age of the patients, gender, site of bites and /or scratch were collected from the registry book and analyzed using SPSS version 11.5. Results: A total of 1299 cases of bite and/or scratch were reported for the period September 2008 to August 2009. The majority of bites were made by dogs where stray dogs are much higher (X2 = 0.83, p= 0.36). There is statistically highly significant difference of bites between sex (p = 0.001) and between age group (F = 5.41, p=0.02). The animal bite made by dogs was higher on legs (55.6 %) followed by hands (26.45 %) and multiple bites (7.51 %). Conclusions: The majority of bites were attributed to stray dogs followed by cats, horses, donkeys. To reduce the problem a preventative public education is suggested

Overview of Rabies in and around Addis Ababa, in Animals Examined in EHNRI Zoonoses Laboratory Between, 2003 and 2009

A retrospective data on the number of confirmed animal rabies cases and applied rabies control measures over the period 2003-2009 were collected and analyzed to elucidate the situation of animal rabies in and around Addis Ababa. Over the last seven years, 2517 animals brain tissue samples from Dogs, Cats, Cattle, Horses, Donkeys, Shoats, Hyenas and Monkeys were examined for rabies using Fluorescent Antibody Test. Out of all samples examined, 76.9% (n=1936) were positive for rabies antigen. A statistically significant difference (χ2 = 34.08(1),

Characteristics and Early Outcomes of Patients With Xpert MTB/RIF-Negative Pulmonary Tuberculosis Diagnosed During Screening Before Antiretroviral Therapy

Comparison of the characteristics of HIV-infected patients with Xpert-positive and Xpert-negative tuberculosis and relationship of Xpert status with subsequent clinical and programmatic outcomes

Visceral leishmaniasis patients display altered composition and maturity of neutrophils as well as impaired neutrophil effector functions

Immunologically, active visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is characterised by profound immunosuppression, severe systemic inflammatory responses and an impaired capacity to control parasite replication. Neutrophils are highly versatile cells, which play a crucial role in the induction as well as the resolution of inflammation, the control of pathogen replication and the regulation of immune responses. Neutrophil functions have been investigated in human cutaneous leishmaniasis, however, their role in human visceral leishmaniasis is poorly understood. In the present study we evaluated the activation status and effector functions of neutrophils in patients with active VL and after successful anti-leishmanial treatment. Our results show that neutrophils are highly activated and have degranulated; high levels of arginase, myeloperoxidase and elastase, all contained in neutrophils’ granules, were found in the plasma of VL patients. In addition, we show that a large proportion of these cells are immature. We also analysed effector functions of neutrophils that are essential for pathogen clearance and show that neutrophils have an impaired capacity to release neutrophil extracellular traps, produce reactive oxygen species and phagocytose bacterial particles, but not Leishmania parasites. Our results suggest that impaired effector functions, increased activation and immaturity of neutrophils play a key role in the pathogenesis of VL