Awareness of health effects of cooking smoke among women in the Gondar Region of Ethiopia: a pilot survey

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Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017 : results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Correction:Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.Peer reviewe

Survey of the tick fauna and its seasonal dynamics at Abernosa

A study carried out on a government ranch in the Rift Valley, at Abernosa, Ethiopia, with the objectives of determining the tick fauna and its seasonal dynamics and the degree of susceptibility to infestation of two breeds of cattle, Boran and Boran-Friesian; carries out twelve monthly samplings, packed cell volume (PCV), live weight, tick species and sex, and tick feeding site recordings; the results determined four genera of five species of ticks, and that Boran-Friesian are found to be more susceptible to infestation than Boran herds

Leaf Essential oils of Salvia nilotica and Salvia schimperi: Their Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities

The compositions of the essential oils of the leaves of Salvia nilotica and Salvia schimperi were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results of the analyses indicated that the components of the two oils are qualitatively similar with significant quantitative differences. Twenty-seven compounds comprising 84.73% of the total peak areas were identified in S. nilotica oil with germacrene D (28.48%), guaiol (13.99%), and trans-caryophyllene (12.96%) as major components. The essential oil of S. schimperi was found to contain 42 compounds accounting for 88.3% of the total peak area, the major components being linalool (44.35%), and α-terpineol (9.27%). The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of both plants were studied against a wide range of medically important pathogens including Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as some fungal strains using a standard disc diffusion technique. The results revealed that the oils possessed significant activity against most of the bacterial and fungal strains used in the study. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 25 to 100 μg/ml against the bacteria and 1000 to 1500 μg/ml against the fungi. At similar concentrations, the oils and the standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin exhibited similar activities against various Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacterial strains. In addition, the essential oils of both plants were demonstrated to have a strong free-radical scavenging potential in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. In light of the results obtained, it could be concluded that the study supports the various uses of S. nilotica and S. schimperi in traditional medical practices of Ethiopia. Keywords: Salvia nilotica, Salvia schimperi, essential oils, antimicrobial activity, radical scavenging potentialEthiopian Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 26 (1) 2008: pp. 49-5

Anti-inflammatory activity of extracts and a saponin isolated from Melilotus elegans

The crude methanol extract of Melilotus elegans Ser. (Fabaceae), a plant widely used in Ethiopian traditional medicine for the treatment of asthma, haemorrhoid and lacerated wounds showed a significant anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenin-induced rat paw oedema. At a dose corresponding to 333.3 mg per kg body weight of dry plant material, the methanol extract displayed a strong inhibitory effect that was comparable to the inhibitory effect of 1 mg/kg of indomethacin in the same test system. Bioassay guided fractionation of the alcoholic extract led to the isolation of an oleanene-type triterpene saponin identified as azukisaponin V (1) ((3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1 --> 2)-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl]-soyasapogenol B). The structure of the compound was identified by using MS and extensive one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments (1H, 13C, COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY). One hour after injection of carrageenin, inhibition of oedema exerted by 1 was approximately ten times higher than that of indomethacin on a molar basis

Essential Oil Composition, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Mentha aquatica Growing in Ethiopia

The in vitro antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of Mentha aquatica L. (Lamiaceae) growing in Ethiopia were studied. The chemical composition of the oil was also investigated by using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 34 compounds representing 99.4% of the oil have been identified. Menthofuran (70.5%) was characterized as the main component with limonene and pmenthone constituting 9.42 and 7.20% of the oil, respectively. In general, the oil showed a remarkable activity against the Gram-positive bacteria tested of which Staphylococcus aureus 29737, S. aureus ML267, Sarcina luteus 9341 and Bacilus pumilus 8241 strains were the most susceptible. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the oil against these organisms were found to be less than 5 μg/ml. The antioxidant activity of the oil was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and deoxyribose degradation assays and was found to possess good radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 11.2 and 3.74 μl/ml, respectively. Keywords: antibacterial, antioxidant, Mentha aquatica, essential oil, capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometryEthiopian Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 26 (1) 2008: pp. 9-1

Isolation of an Antibacterial Flavonoid Glycoside from the Leaves of Cineraria abyssinica

The leaf extract of Cineraria abyssinica Sch. Bip. exA. Rich (Asteraceae) is locally used for the treatment of various ailments including diarrhoea. Previous study has shown that the total hydroalcoholic extract of the leaves of the plant possesses genuine antibacterial activity. The main aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the active principle(s) of the plant. Thus, chloroform, acetone and methanol fractions of the leaves of C. abyssinica were prepared and investigated for their in vitro antibacterial activities against 21 Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains by agar disc diffusion method. It was found that all the fractions possess various degrees of antimicrobial activities against most of the bacteria tested. Among the bacterial strains tested Bacillus species were less sensitive. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the most active methanol fraction resulted in the isolation of the flavonoidal glycoside, rutin the structure of which was assigned on the basis of spectroscopic methods. Rutin showed potent antibacterial activity against the majority of the tested bacteria which was comparable to that of the standard drug ciprofloxacin. Therefore, the present study revealed for the first time the presence of an antimicrobial phytochemical in the leaves of C. abyssinica that scientifically validated the traditional use and its potential for the treatment of infectious diarrhoea.Keywords: Cineraria abyssinica, Asteraceae, antibacterial, agar diffusion, ruti