22 research outputs found

    Application of Biotechnology in Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Genetic Disorders

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    Biotechnology is the application of biological molecules to make useful products that can be used to solve problems in different sectors. Medical biotechnology in particular aims to know the root causes of genetic disorders and develop therapeutic strategies. Although human diseases are caused by different factors, those caused by genetic disorders are increasing in prevalent worldwide. Early detection and treatment of these condition is paramount important. Chemical treatments that cure only the symptom of genetic disorders were practiced so far to manage the effect. However, as a result of advances in understanding of biological molecules, treatment of the cause of the disease called gene therapy has been developed more popularity nowadays. Moreover, most research centers abandoned the classical techniques that are prone to error, and began to use high throughput technologies to correct genetic disorders. Among these, CRISPR Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats Associated Cas9) is the most easy to use and allows precise gene editing in higher organisms to repair disease-causing genes by homologous directed repair. The recent development of modified versions CAs9 Nickase thatĀ  reduce off target effects andĀ  the ā€œbase editorā€ that preform without double strand DNA break andĀ  without the need to template indicated its application for therapeutic genome editing in man in the future. Keywords: Biotechnology, CRISPR Cas9, gene therapy, Nickase DOI: 10.7176/ALST/76-02 Publication date:September 30th 201

    A survey on occurrence of internal and external fish parasites and causes of fish population reduction in Lake Hashenge, Tigray, Ethiopia

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    A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2015 to June 2016 to determine the occurrence of internal and external parasites in wild fish population of Lake Hashenge and identify the causes of the trends in reduction of fish population. A total of 125 randomly selected fish samples comprising 122 (97.6%) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and 3(2.4%) T. zilli were examined for internal helminthes and external parasites. Overall, 37.6% (47/125) of fish were infested by internal parasites (adults or eggs/larva) while none of them were infested with external parasites. The internal parasites recovered were Clinostomum, Acanthocephalues and Capillaria accounting for 15.2%, 11.2%, and 7.2% of the total infection respectively, while 4% had mixed infection. Moreover, the distribution of parasitic genera were found to be significantly different (p<0.05) with respect to sex, weight, and lengths of the sampled fish, in that females (n=48, 24.8%), fish with body weight 500-1000g (n=89, 30.4%), and length 20-40cm (n=68, 22.4%) were found to be more infected. Most of the respondents (92%) indicated a great reduction in the water and the fish population of the lack from its previous state. All of the respondents have stated that residents of the area wash their clothes in the Lake using synthetic and/or natural detergents and 86% of the respondents believed that Lake Hashenge receives flooding water from nearby uphills and the people use the water from the Lake for small scale irrigation purposes. These findings demand a future focus and stretch of intervention programs for alleviation of the problems facing the Lake before its exhaustion.Keywords: Fish; Lake Hashenge; Parasites; Prevalence; Population reductio

    Zoonotic tuberculosis in a high bovine tuberculosis burden area of Ethiopia

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    BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide, caused by species of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), with Mycobacterium tuberculosis being the dominant pathogen in humans and Mycobacterium bovis in cattle. Zoonotic transmission of TB (zTB) to humans is frequent particularly where TB prevalence is high in cattle. In this study, we explored the prevalence of zTB in central Ethiopia, an area highly affected by bovine TB (bTB) in cattle.MethodA convenient sample of 385 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB, Nā€‰=ā€‰287) and tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN, Nā€‰=ā€‰98) were included in this cross-sectional study in central Ethiopia. Sputum and fine needle aspirate (FNA) samples were obtained from patients with PTB and TBLN, respectively, and cultures were performed using BACTECā„¢ MGITā„¢ 960. All culture positive samples were subjected to quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays, targeting IS1081, RD9 and RD4 genomic regions for detection of MTBC, M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, respectively.ResultsTwo hundred and fifty-five out of 385 sampled patients were culture positive and all were isolates identified as MTBC by being positive for the IS1081 assay. Among them, 249 (97.6%) samples had also a positive RD9 result (intact RD9 locus) and were consequently classified as M. tuberculosis. The remaining six (2.4%) isolates were RD4 deficient and thereby classified as M. bovis. Five out of these six M. bovis strains originated from PTB patients whereas one was isolated from a TBLN patient. Occupational risk and the widespread consumption of raw animal products were identified as potential sources of M. bovis infection in humans, and the isolation of M. bovis from PTB patients suggests the possibility of human-to-human transmission, particularly in patients with no known contact history with animals.ConclusionThe detected proportion of culture positive cases of 2.4% being M. bovis from this region was higher zTB rate than previously reported for the general population of Ethiopia. Patients with M. bovis infection are more likely to get less efficient TB treatment because M. bovis is inherently resistant to pyrazinamide. MTBC species identification should be performed where M. bovis is common in cattle, especially in patients who have a history of recurrence or treatment failure

    Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022ā€“2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

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    Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2Ā·5th and 97Ā·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60Ā·1% [95% UI 56Ā·8ā€“63Ā·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35Ā·8% [31Ā·0ā€“45Ā·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31Ā·7% [29Ā·2ā€“34Ā·1] to 15Ā·5% [13Ā·7ā€“17Ā·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33Ā·8% (27Ā·4ā€“40Ā·3) to 41Ā·1% (33Ā·9ā€“48Ā·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20Ā·1% (15Ā·6ā€“25Ā·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35Ā·6% (26Ā·5ā€“43Ā·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15Ā·4% (13Ā·5ā€“17Ā·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10Ā·4% (9Ā·7ā€“11Ā·3) in the high-income super-region to 23Ā·9% (20Ā·7ā€“27Ā·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5Ā·2% [3Ā·5ā€“6Ā·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23Ā·2% [20Ā·2ā€“26Ā·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2Ā·0% [ā€“0Ā·6 to 3Ā·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

    Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990ā€“2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

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    BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378ā€“521), affecting 3Ā·40 billion (3Ā·20ā€“3Ā·62) individuals (43Ā·1%, 40Ā·5ā€“45Ā·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18Ā·2% (8Ā·7ā€“26Ā·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100ā€‰000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33Ā·6% (27Ā·6ā€“38Ā·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27Ā·0% (21Ā·5ā€“32Ā·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1Ā·5% (0Ā·7ā€“2Ā·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

    Sanitary Survey in Gondar Town

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    Background: The health and well being of population is directly affected by extremely low coverage of water supply and sanitation. Objectives: This study aims to assess the environmental sanitation status of Gondar town. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the basis of the administrative structure of the town. The town was stratified into high density and low-density areas from which households were selected randomly from each stratum. A structured questionnaire was used for the household survey. Results: There is a relatively high risk of exposure to poor environmental conditions in high population than low population density area. The association between educational status and income with availability of latrine was statistically significant, the literates and the economically better-off have a better sanitary facility. Excreta disposal facilities are generally inadequate and poorly maintained. The per capita water consumption was 12 liters/day, which is very low when compared to 30-40 liters per day for urban residents, as per the WHO standard. Conclusion and recommendation: This study found that the sanitary status of the town to be poor. Thus, the municipality should give priority attention to improve the sanitary conditions in the town. Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2003;(3):215-21

    Sanitary Survey in Gondar Town

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    Background: The health and well being of population is directly affected by extremely low coverage of water supply and sanitation. Objectives: This study aims to assess the environmental sanitation status of Gondar town. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the basis of the administrative structure of the town. The town was stratified into high density and low-density areas from which households were selected randomly from each stratum. A structured questionnaire was used for the household survey. Results: There is a relatively high risk of exposure to poor environmental conditions in high population than low population density area. The association between educational status and income with availability of latrine was statistically significant, the literates and the economically better-off have a better sanitary facility. Excreta disposal facilities are generally inadequate and poorly maintained. The per capita water consumption was 12 liters/day, which is very low when compared to 30-40 liters per day for urban residents, as per the WHO standard. Conclusion and recommendation: This study found that the sanitary status of the town to be poor. Thus, the municipality should give priority attention to improve the sanitary conditions in the town. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2004;18(1):39-42

    Risk factors for surgical site infections in obstetrics: a retrospective study in an Ethiopian referral hospital

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    Abstract Background Pregnant women are at risk of infection during labor and delivery. Infection in obstetrics accounts for the second most common cause of maternal mortality next to post partum hemorrhage. Knowing the prevalence and associated risk factors would help to undertake optimal precautions and standard surgical techniques to reduce surgical site infection which poses increased hospital cost and total hospital stay of the patients. Method Facility based retrospective observational study design was carried out purposively to assess the prevalence of surgical site infections and associated risk factors among mothers who had delivery related surgery at obstetric ward of Assela teaching referral hospital from April, 23, 2015 to September 5, 2015. A total of 384 women who had surgery for delivery were included in the study. The risk associated with SSIs was assessed by multivariate regression logistic analysis. Results The age of the women ranged from 17 to 40Ā years with the mean age of 26 (Ā±5) years. The rate of surgical site infection was 9.4%(36/384). The risk factors for surgical site infection were age less than 19 (ORĀ =Ā 3.5, 95%CI 1.17ā€“10.01), preterm gestation age (ORĀ =Ā 4.225 95%CI 1.254ā€“14.238), duration of labor ā‰„24Ā h (ORĀ =Ā 2.219 95%CI1.054ā€“4.670), duration of rupture of membrane ā‰„12Ā h (ORĀ =Ā 5.99, 95% CI2.75ā€“13.02),chorioamnionitis (ORĀ =Ā 9.743, 95%CI 3.077ā€“30.848), vertical skin incision(ORĀ =Ā 4,95%CI 1.709ā€“13.322), pre operation Hematocrit (ORĀ =Ā 6.4,95%CI1.021ā€“40.137),perioperative blood transfusion(ORĀ =Ā 6.75,95%CI 2.47,18.49), abdominal hysterectomy(ORĀ =Ā 7.9,95%CI1.698ā€“36.960), and diabetic mellitus (ORĀ =Ā 3.7,95%CI 1.112ā€“12.519). Conclusions Obstetric ward of Assela teaching referral hospital are encouraged to use properly WHO surgical safety checklist and examine how to sensibly integrate these essential safety steps into their normal operative workflow. Prophylactic antibiotic administration should be provided within one hour before the surgical incision or within two hours if the patient is receiving vancomycin or floroquinolones

    Evaluation of the effect of therapeutic durations on small ruminant bacterial pneumonia

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    Abstract Background Sheep and goat production in Ethiopia is hindered by numerous substandard production systems and various diseases. Respiratory disease complexes (RDC) pose a significant threat to the productivity of these animals. Pneumonia is a common manifestation of respiratory disease complexes and often necessitates a prolonged course of antibiotic treatment. This study aimed to optimize and propose the ideal duration of therapy for pneumonia in sheep and goats. Methods The study was conducted from February to June 2021 at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University. The study recruited 54 sheep and goats presented to the hospital for treatment with a confirmed RDC as determined based on clinical signs and bacteriological methods. The animals were randomly allocated to 5 groups each group receiving 10% oxytetracycline (Phenxyl, Phenix, Belgum) intramuscularly for a duration of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 consecutive days. The treatment outcomes were assessed by recording vital signs (body temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, coughing, and nasal discharges), performing lung ultrasonography (L-USG) as well as collection of nasal swabs for bacterial isolation and molecular identification before and after completion of the treatment. An ordered logistic regression model with random effects was employed to determine the optimal therapeutic duration, taking into account the cumulative scores of the outcome variables across the different groups. Results Among the 54 sheep and goats treated with 10% oxytetracycline, a total of 74.07% (95% CI, 60.35ā€“85.04) achieved complete recovery, as confirmed through clinical, ultrasound, and bacteriological methods. In Group 1 (G1), out of 12 sheep and goats, 8 (83.0%) recovered completely; in Group 2 (G2), out of 11 animals, 9 (82.0%) recovered completely; in Group 3 (G3), out of 11 animals, 10 (93.0%) recovered completely; in Group 4 (G4), out of 9 animals, 9 (100.0%) recovered completely; and in Group 5 (G5), out of 11 animals, 10 (91.0%) recovered completely. Bacteriological examination of nasal swabs indicated involvement of M. hemolytica in 27 (50.00%) and P. multocida in 13 (24.07%) of pneumonic animals. Detection of specific marker genes confirmed only five of the presumptive M. hemolytica isolates, whilst no isolates tested positive for P. multocida. Post-treatment samples collected from recovered animals did not yield any M. hemolytica nor P. multocida. Based on results from clinical signs, L-USG, and bacterial infection variables, the group of sheep and goats treated for seven consecutive days (G5) showed the highest recovery score compared to the other groups, and there was a statistically significant difference (coefficient (Ī²)ā€‰=ā€‰āˆ’ā€‰2.296, pā€‰=ā€‰0.021) in variable score between G5 and G1. These findings suggest that the administration of 10% oxytetracycline for a full course of seven consecutive days resulted in symptomatic and clinical recovery rates from respiratory disease in sheep and goats
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