Intestinal parasitosis and shigellosis among diarrheal patients in Gondar teaching hospital, northwest Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diarrheal diseases are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in developing world. Understanding the etiologic agents of diarrheal diseases and their association with socio-demographic characteristics of patients would help to design better preventive measures. Thus, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites and enteropathogenic bacteria in diarrheic patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study involving 384 consecutive diarrheal patients who visited Gondar teaching hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia from October 2006 to March 2007 was conducted. Stool specimens were collected and examined for intestinal parasites and enteropathogenic bacteria following standard parasitological and microbiological procedures.</p> <p><b><it>Results</it></b></p> <p>Intestinal parasites were diagnosed in 36.5% of the patients. The most frequently encountered protozoan parasite was <it>Entamoeba histolytica/dispar </it>(7.3%) followed by <it>Giardia lamblia </it>(5.0%), C<it>ryptosporidium parvum </it>(1.8%) and <it>Isospora belli </it>(1.3%). The dominant helminthic parasite identified was <it>Ascaris lumbricoides </it>(5.5%) followed by <it>Strongyloides stercoralis </it>and <it>Schistosoma mansoni </it>(3.1% each), hookworm infection (1.8%), and <it>Hymenolepis </it>species (1.3%). Multiple infections of intestinal parasites were also observed in 6.3% of the patients. Among the enteropathogenic bacteria <it>Shigella </it>and <it>Salmonella </it>species were isolated from 15.6% and 1.6%, respectively, of the patients. <it>Escherichia coli O57:H7 </it>was not found in any of the stool samples tested. Eighty eight percent and 83.3% of the <it>Shigella </it>and <it>Salmonella </it>isolates were resistant to one or more commonly used antibiotics, respectively.</p> <p>Intestinal parasitosis was higher in patients who live in rural area, in patients who were washing their hands after visiting toilet either irregularly with soap and without soap or not at all, in patients who used well and spring water for household consumption, and in patients who had nausea (<it>P </it>< 0.05). Statistically significant associations were also observed between Shigella infections and patients who were using well and spring water for household consumption, and patients who had dysentery and mucoid stool (<it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The high prevalence of intestinal parasites and <it>Shigella </it>species in diarrheic patients calls for institution of appropriate public health intervention measures to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases. The rational use of antibiotics should also be practiced.</p

A bird's eye view... resistance in academia

This article deals with one sociologist's experience of gender inequality in the academy and examines different forms of resistance to it. Here, the author uses the concept of resistance to explore some of the ways faculty women respond to a situation of hierarchical and numerical male dominance. Focusing on faculty women within the hierarchical and numerically male dominated structures of academia, the author identifies seven types of resistance. It also compares the Irish trends as regards the proportion of women in academia to other countries. It is important to stress the methodological limitations of this paper. The author draws on personal observations of the position of faculty women in three of the five academic organisations in which she was employed at various times over the past 30 years (the early 1970s; the 1980s; and the 1990s respectively), initially as research assistant and more recently as professor. It thus can be seen as a personal account: there are 'no empirical findings in the positivist sense' (Lentin, 2000). Observations were not recorded systematically over the years and the possibility that they constitute a highly idiosyncratic perception of the academy cannot be eliminated. A focus on reflexivity and autobiography is part of an epistemological challenge to positivism (Lentin 1993 and 2000; Goode 1998) albeit one that has been viewed with considerable scepticism by many sociologists. Nevertheless, in a context where there are considerable sensitivities around the collection of qualitative data (because of the size of the country, the small number of academic institutions, and strong norms involving institutional loyalty) this approach is arguably an important source of insight