Intestinal helminthic infections among elementary students of Babile town, eastern Ethiopia

Introduction: Intestinal helminthic infections are important public health problems in developing countries. In Ethiopia, intestinal parasitic infections are highly prevalent because of low living standards and poor  environmental sanitation. There are several areas in Ethiopia from whichepidemiological information is lacking including Babile town. The aim of  this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal helminthicinfection among students of Babile town.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from May 14 to June 08, 2012. Stool samples collected from 644 students were examined by the McMaster method. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Univariate analysis was carried out using the Chi-square test to check for presence or absence of association between exposure and the presence of infection and odds ratios with 95% CI were computed to measure the strength of association. Logistic regression was used to calculate predictors of helminthic infection. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.Results: The prevalence of intestinal helminths was 13.8%, of which three students were infected with soil transmitted helminths with a prevalence rate of 0.47%. The prevalence of Hymenolepis nana, Enterobius  vermicularis, hookworm, and Trichiura trichiura infections were 13, 0.6, 0.3, and 0.2% respectively. Intestinal helminthic infection was significantly associated with grade and sex of the school children. Conclusion: The prevalence of intestinal helminths was low. Health  information dissemination is recommended. Since infection by  Hymenolepis nana is a long term health problem in the area, provision of regular treatment by anthelminthic drug of choice for hymenolepiasis is also recommended

Bellwether operations in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, are performed at regional and tertiary rather than district hospitals

Background. Previous work from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, South Africa, has suggested that public sector district hospitals are not providing adequate access to surgical care in the form of bellwether operations (caesarean section (CS), open reduction of fractures (ORF) and laparotomy).Objectives. To review the surgical output of regional and tertiary institutions, to quantify their contribution to providing bellwether procedure coverage for the province.Methods. Data on bellwether operations conducted at all district, regional, tertiary and central hospitals in the public health sector of KZN for the period 1 July - 31 December 2015 were collected from operating theatre registers.Results. Between 1 July and 31 December 2015, a total of 20 926 CSs, 3 947 laparotomies and 3 098 ORFs were performed in KZN provincial hospitals. This translates to a provincial rate for each bellwether procedure of 192/100 000 (CS), 36/100 000 (laparotomy) and 28/100 000 (ORF). The rate of  bellwether operations across the province during the study period was 256/100 000, with numbers as follows: CSs – 10 542 in district hospitals, 8 712 in regional hospitals, 1 538 in tertiary hospitals and 134 in the central hospital; laparotomies – 235 in district hospitals, 2 314 in regional hospitals, 1 259 in tertiary hospitals and 139 in the central hospital; and ORFs – 196 in district hospitals, 1 660 in regional hospitals, 1 201 in tertiary hospitals and 41 in the central hospital.Conclusions. Regional and tertiary hospitals are performing the bulk of non-obstetric bellwether operations in KZN. This imbalance has major implications for planning future delivery of surgical care in the province.

The role of dairy cooperatives in stimulating innovation and market oriented smallholders development: the case of Ada’a dairy cooperative, Central Ethiopia

For an agriculturally dependent country like Ethiopia, dairy development has enormous scope for rural development and national prosperity. Dairy cooperatives are needed to consolidate the efforts of small producers to provide processing and transport facilities on a large scale. Organizing farmers through dairy co-operatives can have many advantages over individual farming. First, co-operatives can improve or facilitate access to market information, reduce costs of marketing and can increase producers’ access to technology, extension and related services, and thereby enhance efficiency in the process of production and marketing of dairy products. Second, dairy marketing co-operatives can help to decrease transaction costs and price risks, and enhance bargaining power of dairy producers. These lead to increased return from commercial dairying which in turn stimulates innovation in the sector. This study was undertaken to explore the role of dairy cooperatives in stimulating innovation and market oriented smallholders’ development by taking Ada’a dairy cooperative as a case study. It entails the specific objectives of investigating the role of the cooperative in promoting innovations, linkages for access to services and marketing and enhancing knowledge and information sharing. Primary data were collected from 150 smallholder dairy producer members of the cooperative. This was supplemented by information from focused group discussion with dairy producers, board members of the cooperative and key informants. The study result showed that the cooperative has started to enhance innovations in the dairy sector which include technological, institutional and organizational innovations, promoting linkages for access to marketing and services and in sharing knowledge and information. With regards to technological innovation the cooperative introduced milk processing using its own processing machine and started to produce quality products as pasteurized milk, butter and cheese. The cooperative had many activities with regards to institutional innovation, which include: provision of dairy inputs, marketing, creating employment opportunities, having well designed organizational and financial systems and addressing development issues. Organizationally there was weak interaction among members and board members of the cooperative. The cooperative is performing good in promoting market oriented dairy development through creating market link to the urban and peri-urban subsystems, collaborating with other dairy associations, public organizations, NGOs, projects and donors affiliated on MODD. The cooperative has been sharing dairy related knowledge and information by providing training and advisory services; based on that 55% of the sample respondents have got training on dairy production and marketing through the cooperative during the last three years; and all sample members of the cooperative have got advisory services using innovative members and staff members of the cooperative ( 85.33%), staff of the district agricultural office (8%), NGOs (4.67%) and DzARC (2%)

Prevalence of Smear Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis and its Associated Risk Factors among Patients Attending Nekemte Referral Hospital, Western Ethiopia

Tuberculosis (TB), one of the widest spread infectious diseases, is the leading cause of death in the world. TB is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the horn of Africa with Ethiopia carrying a heavy burden; it is the third most populous country in Africa. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of smear positive pulmonary TB (PTB) and its associated risk factors among TB suspected patients attending Nekemte Referral Hospital. Oromia Region State, Western,  Ethiopia. A cross sectional study was conducted among 170 TB suspected patients attending Nekemte Referral Hospital from April 1 to May 15, 2012. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the study subjects. The sputum sample was collected and examined following national guide line for diagnosis of TB using direct Ziehl – Nelson staining and sodium hypochlorite concentration techniques. To collect data related to associated risk factors for PTB, pretest structured question was employed. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 and described using descriptive statistic and binary logistic regression modeling. The prevalence of smear-positive PTB is 9.41% and 15.88% by direct and sodium hypochlorite concentration Ziehle-Nelson staining technique, respectively. Factors significantly associated with smear-positive PTB were level ofeducation primary (AOR=17.78) and secondary education (AOR=736.19), occupation of merchant (AOR =0.03), sex male (AOR= 0.089), marital status of married (AOR=0.26), monthly income between 500-1000 (OR 0.002), urban residence (AOR= 0.39) and having close contact history with TB patient (OR=AO.113). The prevalence of Smear positive PTB is high at the study area and it is mostly associated with soci-demographic factorsand close contact with TB patient

QTL mapping of agronomic traits in tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter]

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tef [<it>Eragrostis tef </it>(Zucc.) Trotter] is the major cereal crop in Ethiopia. Tef is an allotetraploid with a base chromosome number of 10 (2n = 4× = 40) and a genome size of 730 Mbp. The goal of this study was to identify agronomically important quantitative trait loci (QTL) using recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from an inter-specific cross between <it>E. tef </it>and <it>E. pilosa </it>(30-5).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-two yield-related and morphological traits were assessed across eight different locations in Ethiopia during the growing seasons of 1999 and 2000. Using composite interval mapping and a linkage map incorporating 192 loci, 99 QTLs were identified on 15 of the 21 linkage groups for 19 traits. Twelve QTLs on nine linkage groups were identified for grain yield. Clusters of more than five QTLs for various traits were identified on seven linkage groups. The largest cluster (10 QTLs) was identified on linkage group 8; eight of these QTLs were for yield or yield components, suggesting linkage or pleotrophic effects of loci. There were 15 two-way interactions of loci to detect potential epistasis identified and 75% of the interactions were derived from yield and shoot biomass. Thirty-one percent of the QTLs were observed in multiple environments; two yield QTLs were consistent across all agro-ecology zones. For 29.3% of the QTLs, the alleles from <it>E. pilosa </it>(30-5) had a beneficial effect.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The extensive QTL data generated for tef in this study will provide a basis for initiating molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits in this staple food crop for the people of Ethiopia.</p

Pastoralists do plan! Community-led land use planning in the pastoral areas of Ethiopia

This paper consolidates a set of case studies which document how pastoralists plan land and resource use in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of Ethiopia. These case studies are drawn from the regional states of Afar, Somali, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP), Oromia, and Gambella. They describe not only why, how, and when pastoralists plan, but also the management and governance structures that control planning processes and the later implementation of the plans. By doing this, the paper provides guidance on how best such planning processes can be supported, and how they can be integrated with and/or built on by other planning processes such as those led by government

Rabies in Endangered Ethiopian Wolves

With rabies emerging as a particular threat to wild canids, we report on a rabies outbreak in a subpopulation of endangered Ethiopian wolves in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, in 2003 and 2004. Parenteral vaccination of wolves was used to manage the outbreak

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a Low-Income Country in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Call for Further Research

A worsening trend of critical shortages in senior health care workers across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in sub-Saharan Africa has been documented for decades. This is especially the case in Ethiopia that has severe shortage of mental health professionals. Consistent with the WHO recommended approach of task sharing for mental health care in LMICs, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is an empirically validated psychological intervention aimed at increasing psychological flexibility, may be delivered by trained laypersons who have a grassroots presence. In this paper, we discuss the need for and potential role of ACT to be delivered by health extension workers (HEWs) to address mental health care needs across Ethiopia. To this end, we also reviewed previous studies that have examined the effectiveness of ACT-based interventions in African countries including in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and South Africa. All studies revealed significant improvements of various mental health-related outcome measures such as decreased psychological distress and depressive symptoms, or increased subjective wellbeing and life satisfaction in the groups that received an ACT-based intervention. However, to date, there is no study that applied ACT in Ethiopia. Thus, more research is warranted to examine the effectiveness and, if proven successful, to scale up a task sharing approach of an ACT-based intervention being delivered by trained HEWs at a grassroots level, possibly paving the way for an innovative, sustainable mental health service in Ethiopia as well as other African LMICs

Cardiorenal Biomarkers, Canagliflozin, and Outcomes in Diabetic Kidney Disease: The CREDENCE Trial

BACKGROUND: People with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria are at an elevated risk for cardiac and renal events. The optimal biomarkers to aid disease prediction and to understand the benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibition remain unclear. METHODS: Among 2627 study participants in the CREDENCE trial (Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes With Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation), concentrations of NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide), high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, growth differentiation factor-15, and IGFBP7 (insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7) were measured. The effect of canagliflozin on biomarker concentrations was evaluated. The prognostic potential of each biomarker on the primary outcome (a composite of end-stage kidney disease [dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated glomerular filtration rate of <15 mL·min-1·1.73 m-2], doubling of the serum creatinine level, or renal death or cardiovascular death) was assessed. RESULTS: The median (quartiles 1 and 3) concentration of each biomarker was generally elevated: NT-proBNP, 180 ng/L (82, 442 ng/L); high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, 19 ng/L (12, 29 ng/L); growth differentiation factor-15, 2595 ng/L (1852, 3775 ng/L); and IGFBP7, 121.8 ng/mL (105.4, 141.5 ng/mL). At 1 year, the biomarkers all rose by 6% to 29% in the placebo arm but only by 3% to 10% in the canagliflozin arm (all P<0.01 in multivariable linear mixed-effect models). Baseline concentrations of each biomarker were strongly predictive of cardiac and renal outcomes. When the biomarkers were analyzed together in a multimarker panel, individuals with high risk scores (hazard ratio [HR], 4.01 [95% CI, 2.52-6.35]) and moderate risk scores (HR, 2.39 [95% CI, 1.48-3.87]) showed a higher risk for the primary outcome compared with those with low risk scores. By 1 year, a 50% increase in NT-proBNP (HR, 1.11 [95% CI, 1.08-1.15]), high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (HR, 1.86 [95% CI, 1.64-2.10]), growth differentiation factor-15 (HR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.24-1.70]), and IGFBP7 (HR, 3.76 [95% CI, 2.54-5.56]) was associated with risk of the primary outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple cardiorenal stress biomarkers are strongly prognostic in people with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria. Canagliflozin modestly reduced the longitudinal trajectory of rise in each biomarker. Change in the biomarker level in addition to the baseline level augments the primary outcome prediction. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov; Unique identifier: NCT02065791

Congenital anomalies in low- and middle-income countries: the unborn child of global surgery.

Surgically correctable congenital anomalies cause a substantial burden of global morbidity and mortality. These anomalies disproportionately affect children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to sociocultural, economic, and structural factors that limit the accessibility and quality of pediatric surgery. While data from LMICs are sparse, available evidence suggests that the true human and financial cost of congenital anomalies is grossly underestimated and that pediatric surgery is a cost-effective intervention with the potential to avert significant premature mortality and lifelong disability