Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections and Associated Risk Factors among Schoolchildren in Durbete Town, Northwestern Ethiopia

Identifying determinants of soil transmitted helminth infection is vital to design control strategy for the disease. This study assessed the prevalence of STH infections and associated factors among schoolchildren in Durbete town, northwestern Ethiopia. Data about the sociodemographic and socioeconomic status of the children were collected using a questionnaire and stool samples were diagnosed using thick Kato-Katz smear. STH infection was more common among school-age children in Durbete town. Hookworm was the most frequent helminth species detected. The prevalence of STH infection was more in children who did not practice wearing shoes and washing hands before eating and in those who were older in age. Deworming of school-age children in the study area would be important. In addition, provision of health education about helminths and the importance of wearing shoes and washing hands before eating would be important to reduce the burden of STH infection in the study area

Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections and Associated Risk Factors among Schoolchildren in Durbete Town, Northwestern Ethiopia

Identifying determinants of soil transmitted helminth infection is vital to design control strategy for the disease. This study assessed the prevalence of STH infections and associated factors among schoolchildren in Durbete town, northwestern Ethiopia. Data about the sociodemographic and socioeconomic status of the children were collected using a questionnaire and stool samples were diagnosed using thick Kato-Katz smear. STH infection was more common among school-age children in Durbete town. Hookworm was the most frequent helminth species detected. The prevalence of STH infection was more in children who did not practice wearing shoes and washing hands before eating and in those who were older in age. Deworming of school-age children in the study area would be important. In addition, provision of health education about helminths and the importance of wearing shoes and washing hands before eating would be important to reduce the burden of STH infection in the study area

Prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition and anaemia among school children in Durbete Town, northwest Ethiopia

Background Information about risk factors of undernutrition and anaemia is useful to design appropriate strategies to control the health problems. In this study, the prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition and anaemia were assessed among school children in Abchikeli and Ayalew Mekonnen Elementary Schools, northwest Ethiopia, in February and March 2010. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 school children. Stool samples were examined using single Kato-Katz slide and nutritional status was determined using anthropometry technique. A pre-tested standardized questionnaire was used to gather information on the socio-demographic and the socio-economic status of the school children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the association of intestinal helminth infection and socio-demographic and socio-economic factors with undernutrition and anaemia. Results Out of 384 children examined, 32.3æ% were undernourished (27.1æ% underweight and 11.2æ% stunted) and 10.7æ% were anaemic. The odds of stunting were approximately seven times higher in children of ages 10 to 14 [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)?=?6.93, 95æ% CI?=?2.60, 18.46] and 2.5 times higher in males [AOR?=?2.50, 95æ% CI?=?1.24, 5.07] than children of ages 5 to 9 and females, respectively. The odds of underweight was three times higher in children who did not wash their hands before eating compared to those who did wash their hands [AOR?=?3.13, 95æ% CI?=?1.19, 8.17]. The chance of anaemia was nine times higher in children who were infected with hookworms compared to those who were not infected with any helminth species [AOR?=?8.87, 95æ% CI?=?2.28, 34.58]. The odds of being undernourished and anemic were similar among children with different socio-economic status. Conclusions Undernutrition and anaemia are public health problems of school-age children in Durbete Town. Health education and provision of additional food supplements would be important to reduce the problem of undernutrition among school-age children in the town. Deworming of children in the town would also have additional impact on reducing the level of anaemia

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Undernutrition and Anaemia Among School Children in Durbete Town, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Information about risk factors of undernutrition and anaemia is useful to design appropriate strategies to control the health problems. In this study, the prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition and anaemia were assessed among school children in Abchikeli and Ayalew Mekonnen Elementary Schools, northwest Ethiopia, in February and March 2010. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 school children. Stool samples were examined using single Kato-Katz slide and nutritional status was determined using anthropometry technique. A pre-tested standardized questionnaire was used to gather information on the socio-demographic and the socio-economic status of the school children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the association of intestinal helminth infection and socio-demographic and socio-economic factors with undernutrition and anaemia. RESULTS: Out of 384 children examined, 32.3 % were undernourished (27.1 % underweight and 11.2 % stunted) and 10.7 % were anaemic. The odds of stunting were approximately seven times higher in children of ages 10 to 14 [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 6.93, 95 % CI = 2.60, 18.46] and 2.5 times higher in males [AOR = 2.50, 95 % CI = 1.24, 5.07] than children of ages 5 to 9 and females, respectively. The odds of underweight was three times higher in children who did not wash their hands before eating compared to those who did wash their hands [AOR = 3.13, 95 % CI = 1.19, 8.17]. The chance of anaemia was nine times higher in children who were infected with hookworms compared to those who were not infected with any helminth species [AOR = 8.87, 95 % CI = 2.28, 34.58]. The odds of being undernourished and anemic were similar among children with different socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS: Undernutrition and anaemia are public health problems of school-age children in Durbete Town. Health education and provision of additional food supplements would be important to reduce the problem of undernutrition among school-age children in the town. Deworming of children in the town would also have additional impact on reducing the level of anaemia

Implicative Almost Distributive Lattice

In this paper, we introduce the concept of Implicative Almost Distributive Lattices (IADLs) as a generalization of implicative algebra in the class of Almost Distributive Lattices. We discuss some properties of IADL and derive some equivalent conditions in IADLs. We also discuss some characterizations of IADL to become an implicative algebra

Transitive and Absorbent Filters of Implicative Almost Distributive Lattices

In this paper, we introduce the concept of transitive and absorbent filters of implicative almost distributive lattices and studied their properties. A necessary and sufficient condition is derived for every filter to become a transitive filter. Some sufficient conditions are also derived for a filter to become a transitive filter. A set of equivalent conditions is obtained for a filter to become an absorbent filter

Phenotypic Characterization of Camels and their Production System in Yabello and Melka Soda Districts,

 አህፅሮት የዚህ ጥናት ዋና ዓሊማ በያቤልና መሌካሶዳ ወረዳዎች በሚገኙ ግመልች ውጪያዊ ባህሪያቸውን በመጠንና በብዛት መሇየት መሠረት ያደረገ ነበር፡፡ በዚህም መሠረት ከሁሇቱ ወረዳዎች ከሚኖሩት አርብቶ አደሮች ሇውጫዊ ባህርይ ትንተና ጥናት 192 አባወራዎችና 3ዏዏ ግመልች በነሲብ ተመርጠዋሌ፡፡ በመሌካሶዳ የሚገኙ ግመልች ከፍተኛና ጉሌህ የሆነ ሌዩነት ከያቤል ግመልች ማሇትም ደረት ዙር፣ በደረት ስፋት፣ በሰውነት ክብደት፣ በሸንጥ/ዳላ ስፋት፣ በደረት ጥሌቀት፣ በጉብሌ ዙሮሽ እንደሚበሌጡ ጥናቱ አመሌክቷሌ፡፡ የግመልች ፆታ ሌዩነት (ወንድና ሴት ግመሌ) በተመሇከተ የፊት እግር ርዝመት፣ የኃሊ እግር ርዝመት፣ የጫንቃ ከፍታ፣ የደረት ዙር፣ የሆድ ስፋት ዙር፣ የሰውነት ክብደት፣ የደረት ስፋት፣ ሻኛ/ጉበሌ ዙሮሽ፣ ሻኛ/ጉበሌ ርዝመት፣ የፊት ሾከና ዙር/ስፋት፣ የኋሊ ሾከና ዙር/ስፋት ሌዩነት እንዳሊቸው ከጥናቱ ሇመረዳት ተችሎሌ፡፡ በጥናቱ የግመልች ዕድሜ መጠን ከሁለም የሰውነት ክብደት ሌኬቶች ጋር ጉሌህ የሆነ ሌዩነት እዳሇው ሇመገንዘብ ተችሎሌ፡፡ በተጨማሪ የደረት ስፋትና የደረት ጥሌቀት ተሇዋዋጭ ሌኬት ሇሰውነት ክብደት ውጫዊ ገጽታ መሇኪያነት ሉያገሇግለ ይችሊለ፡፡ የወንድ ግመልች እክብ ናሙና በቀጥታ ሇሰውነት መሇኪያዎች ማሇትም የደረት ዙርና ሆድ ዙር/ስፋት ጠንካራ አዎንታዊ ዝምድና (r=0.03) ከሰውነት ክብደት ጋር አሊቸው፡፡ የሴት ግመልች ክብደት ጠንካራ አዎንታዊና (P<0.05) ጉሌህ ዝምድና ከደረት ዙር (r=0.95) ጋር አሇው፡፡ የዚህ የግመልች ውጪአዊ እይታ መረጃ በዋነኛነት ሇግመልች ዝርያ ጥበቃ ሇድቀሊና ሇመረጣ በሥነ-ባህርይ ትንተና በተደገፇ እስትራተጂ ሉያገሇግሌ ይችሊሌ፡፡ በተጨማሪ በቦረናና አካባቢ እንዲሁም በላልች የሀገሪቱ ክፍልች የሚኙትን ማህበረሰብ የግመልችን የምርት ውጤት ፍሊጐት ሇሟሟሊት ከፍተኛ ትኩረት በመስጠት በግመልች ሊይ ብዙ መሠረት እንዳሇበት ይጠቁማሌ፡፡ ይህ ጥናት በያቤልና በመሌካ ሶዳ አካባቢ የሚገኙትን የግመሌ ሀብት ሇወደፊት ዝርያቸውን ሇማሻሻሌና ሇመጠበቅ በሚደረገው እንቅስቃሴ በዋነኛነት እንደ መረጃ ሉያገሇግሌ ይችሊሌ፡፡AbstractThe objectives of the study were to characterize the production system of camel in Yabello and Melka Soda districts and to characterize phenotypically camel based on quantitative and qualitative traits. A total of 192 households were selected for characterization of the production system and 300 camels were sampled randomly for characterization of phenotypic traits. Camels of Melka Soda had significantly higher in heart girth, barrel girth, body weight, hip width, chest depth and hump circumference (P<0.05) than Yabello camels. Sex of the camels had significant (P<0.05) effect on forelimb length, hind limb length, wither height, heart girth, barrel girth, body weight, chest width, hump circumference, hump length, fore hoof circumference and hind hoof circumference. Body weight and all the body measurements were significantly (P<0.05) affected by age. Heart girth and barrel girth were found to be the most important variables for estimation of body weight in camels. In male sample populations of linear body measurements, heart girth and barrel girth had strong positive correlation (r=0.93) with body weight. In female sample camels body weight had strong positive and significant (P<0.05) correlation with heart girth (r=0.95). This phenotypic information can serve as a basis for designing appropriate conservation, breeding and selection strategies for camels in the study area and could be complemented with genetic analyses. Thus attention should be given to exploit the performance of camels based on their specialization to fulfill the current demand of camel and camel by-products in the Borena and also in different parts of the country. The present study can be used to understand the camel resources of the study sites for future genetic improvement and conservation actions

Ectoparasites of small ruminants in and around Kombolcha, northeastern Ethiopia

Infestation of small ruminants by ectoparasites such as ticks, mites, lice and fleas could lead to considerable economic loss due to morbidity, mortality and skin rejection. A cross-sectional study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of ectoparasites of small ruminants and to identify different ectoparasite fauna in and around Kombolcha, northeastern Ethiopia. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to generate preliminary data. The study also employed clinical examination and laboratory identification of different ectoparasites into genera and species level. A total of 350 small ruminants (147 sheep and 203 goats) were sampled and examined for prevalence of ectoparasites. The result of the questionnaire survey indicated that sheep and goats were the main species of animals raised by the farmers. The overall prevalence of ectoparasites were 25.7% (90/350), in which 25.9% (38/147) and 25.6% (52/203) prevalence were recorded in sheep and goats, respectively. The proportion of ectoparasites include: lice (11.7%), ticks (7.4%), mites (4.0%) and fleas (2.6%) in descending order. A. variegatum, R. evertsi, S. caprae, D. caprae, L. africanus, D. caprae, S. ovis and C. canis were identified at species level. There was no statistically significant association (p>0.05) between the prevalence of ectoparasites and the species, sex, age and body condition except Rhipicephalus decoloratus which was significantly higher in sheep with poor body condition. The study revealed ectoparasites to be one of the main constraints to small ruminant production in the area and hence warrants further strategic intervention.Keywords: Ectoparasite; Goat; Infestation; Kombolcha; Prevalence; Shee

Day-to-Day Fluctuation of Point-of-Care Circulating Cathodic Antigen Test Scores and Faecal Egg Counts in Children Infected with Schistosoma Mansoni in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Determining the variation of circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) in urine and egg counts variation in stool between days in Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) infected individuals is vital to decide whether or not to rely on a single-sample test for diagnosis of Schistosomiasis. In this study, the magnitude of day-to-day variation in urine-CCA test scores and in faecal egg counts was evaluated in school children in Ethiopia. METHODS: A total of 620 school children (age 8 to 12 years) were examined for S. mansoni infection using double Kato-Katz and single urine-CCA cassette methods (batch 32727) on three consecutive days. RESULTS: The prevalence of S. mansoni infection was 81.1% based on triple urine-CCA-cassette test and 53.1% based on six Kato-Katz thick smears. Among the study participants, 26.3% showed fluctuation in urine CCA and 32.4% showed fluctuation in egg output. Mean egg count as well as number of cases in each class of intensity and intensity of cassette band color varied over the three days of examination. Over 85% of the children that showed day-to-day variations in status of S. mansoni infection from negative to positive or vice versa by the Kato-Katz and the CCA methods had light intensity of infection. The fluctuation in both the CCA test scores and faecal egg count was not associated with age and sex. CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed day-to-day variation in CCA and Kato-Katz test results of children infected with S. mansoni. This indicates the necessity of more than one urine or stool samples to be collected on different days for more reliable diagnosis of S. mansoni infection in low endemic areas