Background Neonatal mortality is a major global public health problem. Ethiopia is among seven countries that comprise 50 % of global neonatal mortality. Evidence on neonatal mortality in referred neonates is essential for intervention however, there is no enough information in the study area. Neonates who required referral frequently became unstable and were at a high risk of death. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the incidence and predictors of mortality among referred neonates. Method A prospective follow-up study was conducted among 436 referred neonates at comprehensive specialized hospitals in the Amhara regional state, North Ethiopia 2020. All neonates admitted to the selected hospitals that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included. Face-to-face interviews, observations, and document reviews were used to collect data using a semi-structured questionnaire and checklists. Epi-data™ version 4.2 software for data entry and STATA™ 14 version for data cleaning and analysis were used. Variables with a p-value < 0.25 in the bi-variable logistic regression model were selected for multivariable analysis. Multivariable analyses with a 95% confidence level were performed. Variables with P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result Over all incidence of death in this study was 30.6% with 95% confidence interval of (26.34–35.16) per 2 months observation. About 23 (17.83%) deaths were due to sepsis, 32 (24.80%) premature, 40 (31%) perinatal asphyxia, 3(2.33%) congenital malformation and 31(24.03%) deaths were due to other causes. Home delivery [AOR = 2.5, 95% CI (1.63–4.1)], admission weight < 1500 g [AOR =3.2, 95% CI (1.68–6.09)], travel distance ≥120 min [AOR = 3.8, 95% CI (1.65–9.14)], hypothermia [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI (1.44–5.13)], hypoglycemia [AOR = 1.8, 95% CI (1.11–3.00)], oxygen saturation < 90% [AOR = 1.9, 95% (1.34–3.53)] at admission time and neonate age ≤ 1 day at admission [AOR = 3.4, 95% CI (1.23–9.84) were predictors of neonatal death. Conclusion The incidence of death was high in this study. The acute complications arising during the transfer of referral neonates lead to an increased risk of deterioration of the newborn’s health and outcome. Preventing and managing complications during the transportation process is recommended to increase the survival of neonates.

Healthcare providers (HCPs) are at an increased risk of getting COVID-19 as a result of their front-line works. Health behaviors of HCPs can influence prevention and control actions implemented in response to the pandemic. Hence, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) and factors associated with prevention practice towards COVID-19 among healthcare providers in Amhara region, northern Ethiopia. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 HCPs in selected public health facilities of Amhara region, between 20th September and 20th October 2020. Data related to HCP’s KAP and socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Bloom’s cut-off ≥ 80%, ≥90%, and ≥75% was used to determine adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and good prevention practice, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSSS version 25.0. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors significantly associated with COVID-19 prevention practice. Statistical significance was determined at a p-value of < 0.05 and the presence of association was described using odds ratio (OR) with their 95% confidence interval (CI). Overall, 368 (89.8%), 387 (94.4%), and 326 (79.5%) HCPs had adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and good prevention practice towards COVID-19, respectively. Factors significantly associated with good COVID-19 prevention practice were being a Nurse in profession (AOR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.13–3.99), having < 5 years of working experience (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.24–0.86), using social media (AOR = 6.20, 95% CI = 2.33–16.51) and television and or radio (AOR = 4.03, 95% CI = 1.56–10.38) as sources of COVID-19 information. HCPs had adequate knowledge, positive attitude and good prevention practice towards COVID-19. Being a Nurse, having < 5 years of working experiences, using social media and television and or radio were factors associated with good prevention practice. Thus, developing HCP’s professional carrier through training opportunities, sharing experiences and using verified information sources are crucial to better improve COVID-19 prevention practice.

Background Adolescent pregnancy is a major public health problem with significant medical, nutritional, social and economic risk for mothers and their infants. The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence and predictors of malnutrition among pregnant adolescents in Kore district, southern Ethiopia. Methods Data were obtained from randomly selected consenting four hundred twenty five pregnant adolescents on March 2018 using interviewer-administered questionnaire and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of malnutrition in adolescent pregnancy. Results The study showed that 26.4% of study participants were malnourished (MUAC < 22 cm). Not owning livestock (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.26–2.19), unintended pregnancy (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.08–1.65), excess physical work in pregnancy (AOR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.02–1.62) and being in the second (AOR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.09–2.65) or third (AOR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.29–3.07) pregnancy trimester were positively associated with malnutrition risk. Improved dietary intake in pregnancy (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.33–0.63) and support perceived by adolescents in pregnancy (AOR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.43–0.82) were negatively associated with malnutrition risk. Conclusion More than one-quarter of the study population were malnourished. The information provides insight into the public health strategies to reduce malnutrition risk of the pregnant adolescents. Interventions aimed at improving socioeconomic status, dietary practice and physical work/activity through effective supports in pregnancy are recommended.

Tella is an indigenous, a home processed and commercially available traditional fermented alcoholic beverage in Ethiopia. It is a main source of income for low-income women in Ethiopia. Tella gets easily spoiled and causes economic loss, as result; brewed in small amount while there are many users. This study investigated effects of fermenter technology modification on microbiological, pshysicochemical parameters and sensory characteristic of tella brewed in modified and traditional fermenters. Experiments were conducted using modified and traditional fermenters. Microbiological analysis was done for the fermenting mashes at 12 h interval. The physicochemical parameters consisted of pH, TA, Mash and environmental temperatures, Total carbohydrate, reducing sugar and ethanol content were determined. Sensory evaluation was performed for tella brewed in modified and traditional fermenters using Sensory attributes such as appearance and color, aroma, taste, strength (alcoholic) and overall acceptability. The counts of lactobacillus, lactococcus, yeasts and aerobic mesophilic bacteria showed increment during the first two phases in both fermenters but gradually decreased at phase IV in both fermenters. The counts of Enterobacteriaceae were high at day zero and not detected at phase II in both fermenters. Acetic acid bacteria were detected at the beginning of phase II in traditional fermenter but at phase III in modified fermenter.Total carbohydrate was 26.4 mg/ ml and 25.7 mg/ml at day zero in modified and traditional fermenters respectively and reached 77 mg/ml at phase III in modified and 78.1 mg/ml in traditional fermenter and then has shown decrement in next phases. Ethanol was detected at phase II in both fermenters and showed gradual increment with fermentation period. Aroma, taste and alcoholic strength were superior for tella brewed in modified fermenter. Using appropriate fermenter technology is important to brew tella with preferable sensory attributes, to make its brewing continuous, and generate continuous income.

Background Loss to follow-up from lifelong antiretroviral therapy continued to be a major challenge affecting virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although there was a study conducted in Ethiopia, loss to follow-up was not clearly defined and some important variables were not addressed. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the incidence of loss to follow-up and its predictors among women on option B+ lifelong antiretroviral therapy program in Pawi district health facilities, northwest Ethiopia. Methods An institutional-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted among 365 women who were enrolled for option B+ prevention of mother-to-child transmission service between June 2013 and March 2021 in Pawi district health facilities. A standard pretested checklist was used to extract data from all eligible women’s records. The Kaplan–Meier survival curve for estimating survival probability and Cox proportional hazards model to identify independent predictors of loss to follow-up were employed after checking for proportional hazards assumptions using STATA-14 statistical software. Result The overall incidence of loss to follow-up was 12.04 (95% CI: 9.50, 15.20) per 1000 person-months of observation time. Residing outside the catchment area (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR): 3.08, 95% CI: 1.59, 5.98), lactating at enrollment (AHR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.24, 4.77), living in a sero-discordant relationship (AHR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.13, 5.53), lack of sero-status disclosure (AHR: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.15, 5.85), new enrollment to lifelong antiretroviral therapy (AHR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.05, 4.11), and fair (AHR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.04) or poor (AHR: 5.78, 95% CI: 2.76, 12.12) antiretroviral drug adherence level were independent predictors of loss to follow-up. Conclusion We found a higher incidence of loss to follow-up relative to previous studies in Ethiopia. Thus, strengthening adherence support interventions, and effective counseling on sero-status disclosure and male partner involvement are important to retain women in care.