Effect of training on the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets on the burden of malaria among vulnerable groups, south-west Ethiopia: baseline results of a cluster randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Ethiopia, the utilization of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLITN) is hampered by behavioural factors such as low awareness and negative attitude of the community. The aim of this study was to present the design and baseline results of a cluster randomized trial on the effect of training of household heads on the use of LLITN.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This baseline survey was undertaken from February to March, 2009 as part of a randomized cluster trial. A total of 11 intervention and 11 control <it>Gots </it>(villages) were included in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Centre, south-west Ethiopia. House to house visit was done in 4135 households to collect information about the use of LLITN and socio-demographic variables. For the diagnosis of malaria and anaemia, blood samples were collected from 2410 under-five children and 242 pregnant women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One fourth of the households in the intervention and control <it>Gots </it>had functional LLITN. Only 30% of the observed LLITN in the intervention and 28% in the control <it>Gots </it>were hanged properly. Adults were more likely to utilize LLITN than under-five children in the control and intervention <it>Gots</it>. The prevalence of malaria in under-five children in the intervention and control <it>Gots </it>was 10.5% and 8.3% respectively. The intervention and control <it>Gots </it>had no significant difference concerning the prevalence of malaria in under-five children, [OR = 1.28, (95%CI: 0.97, 1.69)]. Eight (6.1%) pregnant women in the intervention and eight (7.2%) in the control <it>Gots </it>were positive for malaria (P = 0.9). Children in the intervention <it>Gots </it>were less likely to have anaemia than children in the control <it>Gots</it>, [OR = 0.75, (95%CI: 0.62, 0.85)].</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The availability and utilization of LLITN was low in the study area. The prevalence of malaria and anaemia was high. Intervention strategies of malaria should focus on high risk population and vulnerable groups.</p

Initiation of the western branch of the East African Rift coeval with the eastern branch

The East African Rift System transects the anomalously high-elevation Ethiopian and East African plateaux that together form part of the 6,000-km-long African superswell structure. Rifting putatively developed as a result of mantle plume activity that initiated under eastern Africa. The mantle activity has caused topographic uplift that has been connected to African Cenozoic climate change and faunal evolution. The rift is traditionally interpreted to be composed of two distinct segments: an older, volcanically active eastern branch and a younger, less volcanic western branch. Here, we show that initiation of rifting in the western branch began more than 14 million years earlier than previously thought, contemporaneously with the eastern branch. We use a combination of detrital zircon geochronology, tephro- and magnetostratigraphy, along with analyses of past river flow recorded in sedimentary rocks from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, to constrain the timing of rifting, magmatism and drainage development in this part of the western branch. We find that rift-related volcanism and lake development had begun by about 25 million years ago. These events were preceded by pediment development and a fluvial drainage reversal that we suggest records the onset of topographic uplift caused by the African superswell. We conclude that uplift of eastern Africa was more widespread and synchronous than previously recognized