Background Anaemia is a low blood haemoglobin concentration and has been shown to be a public health problem affecting both developing and developed countries. Pregnant women are the most vulnerable groups to anaemia due to several factors, including parasitic infection and feeding habits during their pregnancy. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of anemia in pregnant women in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women from February, 2017 to June, 2017. The data on determinant factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. The hemoglobin level and intestinal parasites were determined using Hemocue HB 201 and formol ether concentration techniques, respectively. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23 statistical software. Bivariate and multivariate regressions were computed and odds ratio was determined at 95% confidence interval. Results The study consists of 743 participants with a median age of 25 years were included. The prevalence of anemia among pregnant women was 79 (10.6%). The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anaemia were 78 (99.8%), 1 (0.1%) and 1 (0.1%), respectively. Pregnant women of rural dwellers (AOR = 3.72, CI =1.51–9.18), farmer in occupation (AOR = 3.51, CI = 1.75–7.01), and not educated (AOR = 2.25, CI = 1.13–4.48) were significantly associated with increased risk of anemia. Conclusion Anaemia is still a problem amongst pregnant women in the study area though much has been done to increase the hemoglobin level during pregnancy. Health education should be given on factors that aggravate anaemia during pregnancy.

Background. Intestinal parasitic infections are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan countries. The disease burden of these parasites is significantly high among pregnant women in developing countries like Ethiopia. Poor living conditions, sanitation, and hygiene are believed to be the contributing factors. The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of intestinal parasitic infection and factors associated with pregnant women. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2017 to June 2017. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the sociodemographic and other explanatory variables via face-to-face interviews. Stool samples were collected and examined using formol ether concentration technique. The magnitude of parasitic infection was calculated using descriptive statistics. The association between intestinal parasitic infection and determinant factors was assessed by logistic regression. The differences were considered to be statistically significant if the p value was less than 0.05. Results. From a total of 743 pregnant women, the overall prevalence of intestinal parasitosis was 277 (37.3%). The prevalence of hookworm 138 (18.6%) was the leading cause of intestinal parasitosis followed by E. histolytica/dispar 113 (15.2%). Dwelling in rural area (AOR: 2.9 (95% CI: 1.85-4.85)), being a farmer (AOR: 1.91 (95% CI: 1.20-3.03)), eating raw vegetables (AOR: 1.45, 95% CI:0.09-0.24), lack of proper use of latrine (AOR: 2.89 (95%1.18-7.08)), poor environmental sanitation (AOR: 0.19 (95%: CI:0.08-0.47)), habit of soil eating (AOR: 0.42 (95% CI: 0.25-0.72)), having irrigation practice (AOR: 0.47 (95% CI: 0.29-0.77)), and lack of health education (AOR: 0.32 (95% CI: 0.13-0.77)) were significantly associated with intestinal parasitic infections. Conclusions. Intestinal parasitic infection is a major problem among pregnant women in the study area. High parasitic infection is associated with poor hygienic and sanitation practices. Therefore, awareness creation through health education should be given to pregnancy on intestinal parasitic infection and associated factors.

BackgroundSoil-transmitted helminths and Schistosoma mansoni infections are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan countries. The highest burden of the disease resides in school-age children. Poor water sanitation and hygiene are believed to be the major contributing factors for the high prevalence. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections in rural Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2017–June 2017 among 409 randomly selected primary school children. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic information and determinant factors through interviewing the students. Stool examination was done by Ritchie’s concentration method. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Prevalence of helminthic infections was calculated using descriptive statistics. The association between helminthic infection and determinant factors was determined by Bavarian regression. The confounding effect was checked by multivariate regression at 95% confidence interval. Any association was significant when the p-value was < 0.05.ResultThe overall prevalence of intestinal parasite infection was 47.2%.(193/409).. The prevalence of Hookworm species and Schistosoma mansoni was 31.1 and 8.0%, respectively. Co-infection of Hookworm species with Schistosoma mansoni was 5.1% (21/409). The highest prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni was recorded for boys (21%), older children (21.4%) and rural children (17.6%) (P < 0.05). Schistosoma mansoni infection was also higher among children whose household drinking water was sourced from streams/rivers (P < 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed lower odds of Schistosoma mansoni infection for those with no history of bathing (AOR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.1–12.2; P = 0.034), washing clothes/utensils (AOR = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.2–9.7; P = 0.022), swimming (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.2–6.9; P = 0.023), and irrigation (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.3–6.0; P = 0.01). Significantly, higher odds of Hookworm infection was recorded for older children (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.08–4.89; P = 0.029), boys (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.12–3.24; P = 0.018), and rural children (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.04–3.0; P = 0.037). Regular shoe wearing (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.16–0.50; P = 0.00) is protective for hookworm infection. Higher odds of hookworm infection was also recorded for schoolchildren who had the habit of eating raw vegetables (AOR = 1.2 95% CI: 1.1–1.7 P = 0.011).ConclusionHookworm infection and schistosomiasis are prevalent in the school children in rural Bahir Dar in Northwest Ethiopia. Various activities and behaviors of the children were strongly associated with helminthic infection. Hence health education should be delivered regularly to minimize/avoid the risky behaviors and water-based activities. Deworming programs should also be implemented on a regular basis.

The resistance of anthelminthic drugs makes helminth control difficult. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of single dose albendazole and praziquantel drugs among helminth-infected children. A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June, 2017. Stool examination was done by the Formol-Ether concentration technique. Students infected with geohelminths and s chistosoma mansoni were treated with a single dose of albendazole and praziquantel, respectively. Post-treatment stool examination was performed after two weeks. The magnitude of parasite infection, percentage of egg count reduction and cure rate following treatment were calculated using descriptive statistics. A total of 409 Sebatamet primary school students were included. The total prevalence of intestinal parasitosis was 58%. The cure rate of albendazole against hookworm was only 76.8%. Praziquantel had a 91.4% cure rate against Schistosoma mansoni. Therefore, periodic evaluation of the efficacy of anthelminthic drugs is required.

Background The burden and contribution of modifiable risk factors of stroke in Ethiopia are unclear. Knowledge about this burden and modifying risk factors is pivotal for establishing stroke prevention strategies. In recent decades, the issue of lifestyle and behavioral modification is a key to improve the quality of life. The modifiable risk factors are an importance as intervention strategies aimed at reducing these factors can subsequently reduce the risk of stroke. So far, many primary studies were conducted to estimate the burden of stroke and modifiable risk factors in Ethiopia. However, the lack of a nationwide study that determines the overall pooled estimation of burden and modifiable risk factors of stroke is a research gap. Methods To conduct this systemic review and meta-analysis, we are following the PRISMA checklist. Three authors searched and extracted the data from the CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE (via Ovid), PubMed, EMcare, African Journals Online (AJOL), and Google scholar. The quality of the primary study was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) by two independent reviewers. The primary studies with low and moderate risk of bias were included in the final analysis. The authors presented the pooled estimated burden of stroke and its modifiable risk factors. The registered protocol number in PROSPERO was CRD42020221906. Results In this study, the pooled burden of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke were 46.42% (95%CI: 41.82–51.53; I2 = 91.6%) and 51.40% (95%CI: 46.97–55.82; I2 = 85.5%) respectively. The overall magnitude of modifiable risk factor of hypertension, alcohol consumption and dyslipidemia among stroke patients were 49% (95%CI: 43.59, 54.41), 24.96% (95CI%:15.01, 34.90), and 20.99% (95%CI: 11.10, 30.88), respectively. The least proportion of stroke recovery was in the Oromia region (67.38 (95%CI: 41.60–93.17; I2 = 98.1%). Farther more, the proportion of stroke recovery was decreased after 2017 (70.50 (56.80–84.20). Conclusions In our study, more than 90% of stroke patients had one or more modifiable risk factors. All identified modifiable stroke risk factors are major public health issues in Ethiopia. Therefore, strategy is designed for stroke prevention to decrease stroke burden through targeted modification of a single risk factor, or a cluster of multiple risk factors, used on a population, community, or individual level.