Soil Transmitted Helminths and Associated Factors among Schoolchildren in Government and Private Primary School in Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia

Background: Soil transmitted helminth infections are among the most common human infections. They are distributed throughout the world with high prevalence rates in tropical and sub-tropical countries mainly because of lack of adequate sanitary facilities, inappropriate waste disposal systems, lack of safe water supply, and low socio- economic status.Methods: A comparative cross sectional study was conducted from December 2011 to June 2012 to determine and assess the prevalence of soil transmitted helminths and their associated factors among government and private primary school children. Stool samples were collected from 369 randomly selected children and examined microscopically for eggs of soil transmitted helminth following McMaster techniques. Soil samples were collected from different parts of the school compound and microscopic examination was performed for eggs of the helminths using sodium nitrate flotation technique.Results: The overall prevalence rate of soil transmitted helminth infections in private and government schools was 20.9% and 53.5% respectively. T. trichiura was the most common soil transmitted helminth in both schools while hookworm infections were identified in government school students only. Type of school and sex were significantly associated with soil transmitted helminth. Soil contamination rate of the school compounds was 11.25% with predominant parasites of A. lumbricoides.Conclusion: Higher prevalence of soil transmitted helminth infection was found among government school students. Thus, more focus, on personal hygiene and sanitary facilities, should be given to children going to government schools.Keywords: Soil transmitted helminths, school children, government and private school

Do Health Sciences Students Have the Appropriate Knowledge and Attitude to Advance Organ Donation in Ethiopia? Cross-Sectional Study

Amare Desalegn Wolide,1 Kabaye Kumela Goro,2 Fantu Kerga Dibaba,2 Serkadis Debalke,2 Meskerem Seboka,3 Birtukan Edilu Tufa,2 Fanta Gashe Fufa,2 Eshetu Mulisa Bobasa2 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, 378, Ethiopia; 2Faculty of Health Sciences Jimma University, Jimma 378, Ethiopia; 3Institute of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma 378, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Amare Desalegn WolideJimma University, Jimma 378, EthiopiaTel +251 932445922Email [email protected]: Donated organs and tissues are necessary for transplantation to treat irreparable organ failure. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate health science students’ toward organ donation at Jimma University.Methods: The study was conducted in Jimma University, College of Health Sciences from February 1, 2018 to April 25, 2018, Gregorian calendar. Data was entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. A descriptive and generalized linear model was applied to present the results.Results: The overall knowledge and attitude scores of the students were 3.844 (2.98, 4.712) and 6.3914 (5.93, 6.85) respectively. The results showed that students had good knowledge of and a positive attitude toward organ donation. Male students had a higher mean knowledge score than female students, however, the difference was not significant. Dental medicine and medicine students had a higher mean knowledge score than any other health science students in the faculty. Students showed knowledge difference yearly. A significant number of students 290 (73.4%) and 313 (79.2%) knew the importance of live and cadaveric organ donation to treat permanently failed organs, respectively. Also, about 238 (60.3%) students had the awareness of disease transmission and 358 (90.6%) of them knew the involvement of tissue rejection when inappropriate organ transplantation is done to the recipients. Furthermore, likewise, more than half of the students expressed positive beliefs toward the different questions of organ donation-ethics, religion, and willingness for organ donation.Conclusion: Students showed good knowledge and a positive attitude toward organ donation and this should be translated to the public to increase the rate of organ donations.Keywords: organ donation, knowledge, attitude, Jimma Universit