Predictors of Smear-Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Southern Ethiopia: unmatched case control study

Background and objectives: Ethiopia is among TB high burden countries and people in economically productive age group are more affected. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to identify factors associated with Smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Southern Ethiopia. Methods: unmatched case control study design was used to enroll 221 smear-positive pulmonary TB patients and 442 hospital based controls from three governmental hospitals in the Gamo Goffa Zone from February, 2013 to May, 2014. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on risk factors

Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, and associated factors of Salmonella and Shigella infections among under five children in Arba Minch, South Ethiopia

Abstract Background Diarrheal diseases continue to be the major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years. Salmonella and Shigella specious are the major enteric pathogen causing diarrhea among children worldwide. Examination of stool sample is the most sensitive method to diagnose diarrheal disease in children. This study aimed to determining the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and associated factor of Salmonella and Shigella infection among under five children. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted on under 5 years children attending Arba Minch town. Pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used for collecting data about socio-demographic characteristics and associated factors. Stool sample was used to isolate and identified the pathogen. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed for isolated Salmonella and Shigella specious. A logistic regression analysis was used to see the association between different variables and outcome variable. Odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to determine the presence and strength of the association. Results A total of 167 under five children were included in the study. About 57% of participants were males with the mean age of 32 months. The overall prevalence of Salmonella and Shigella species infection was 17.45% with 12.6% Salmonella species. The isolates were resistant to common antibiotics such as Amoxicillin, Erythromycin, Chloramphenicol, Clindamycin, Norfloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Cotrimoxazole, and Gentamycin. Urban resident [AOR = 7.11; 95% CI (2.3, 22.2)], month income < 1000 Ethiopian birr [AOR = 6.5; 95% CI (2.0, 21.4)], absence of waste disposal system [AOR = 3.3; 95% CI (1.2, 9.3)], poor hand washing habit [AOR = 6.0; 95% CI (2.0, 18.2)], untrimmed finger nail [AOR = 3.7; 95% CI (1.4, 10.6)], and use of napkin [AOR = 3.2; 95% CI (1.1, 9.3)] had significant association with Salmonella and Shigella infection. Conclusion Salmonella and Shigella species infections were higher as compared the national prevalence. This study also revealed that the enteric infection were significantly associated with finger nail status, residence, hand washing practice, month income of parents, usage of napkin after toilet, and absence of waste disposal system. Therefore, working on identified associated factors and regular drug susceptibility test is mandatory to reduce the problem

Magnitude and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Gram-Negative bacterial isolates among patients suspected of urinary tract infections in Arba Minch General Hospital, southern Ethiopia.

The emergence of drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial uropathogens poses a grave threat worldwide, howbeit studies on their magnitude are limited in most African countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, measuring the extent of their drug resistance is essential for developing strategies to confine the spread. A cross-sectional study was conducted at title hospital from 01 June to 31 August 2020. Midstream urine specimens were collected and inoculated onto MacConkey agar. Positive urine cultures showing significant bacteriuria as per the Kass count (>105 CFU/mL) were further subjected to biochemical tests to identify the type of uropathogens. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique, and potential carbapenemase producers were phenotypically determined by the modified carbapenem inactivation method as per the CLSI guidelines. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26; P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Totally, 422 patients were included, and the majority were females (54.7%). The prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative uropathogens was 12.9%, and 64.7% of them were carbapenemase producers. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 5) was the predominant carbapenemase producer, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 4). Consumption of antibiotics prior to six months of commencement of the study, the presence of chronic diseases and hospitalizations were statistically associated with UTI caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative uropathogens. Carbapenemase producers were resistant to most of the antibiotics tested. Our findings highlight the need for periodic regional bacteriological surveillance programs to guide empirical antibiotic therapy of UTI

Causes and trends of adult mortality in southern Ethiopia: an eight-year follow up database study

Abstract Background Broad and specific causes of adult mortalities are often neglected indicators of wellbeing in low-income countries like Ethiopia due to lack of strong vital statistics. Thus, this database study aimed to assess the causes of adult mortality using demographic surveillance data. Methods An 8-year (12 September 2009–11 September 2017) surveillance data from the Arba Minch Health and Demographic Surveillance Site was used for this study. Verbal autopsy methods and ICD codes were used to identify the causes of the adult deaths. The collected data were entered to the database by data clerks. We used Microsoft Excel and STATA version 16 software for data cleaning and analysis. Chi-squared test was used to see the significances of the trend analyses. Result From the 943 adult deaths from 2009 to 2017 in the Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in southern Ethiopia, more than half of them were females. The specific leading cause of death in the adults were tuberculosis (16.8%), malaria (9.7%), and intestinal infectious diseases (9.6%). Communicable diseases (49.2%, 95% C.I 45.7, 52.7) accounted for about half of the deaths followed by non-communicable diseases (35%, 95% C.I 31.7, 38.4) where both categories showed an increasing trend. Conclusion Although pieces of evidences are showing the shift from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases as the major causes of adult death in developing countries, this study showed that communicable diseases are still the major causes of adult deaths. Efforts and emphasis should be given to control infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria