Background. Diabetes chronic complications are major causes of morbidity and mortality, among which diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) stands out. One of the tools to screen DPN is the Michigan neuropathy screening instrument. However, there is no data compiled using this tool to assess the prevalence and its determinants in Jimma. So, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of DPN and its determinants among patients with diabetes mellitus at Jimma University Medical Center. Methods. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Jimma University Medical Center on 366 type 2diabetic patients. Data were collected using pretested structured questionnaire and entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were employed to identify factors associated with DPN. A variable having a p value of < 0.25 in the bivariate model was subjected to multivariate analysis to avoid confounding variable’s effect. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated at 95% confidence interval and considered significant with a p value of ≤ 0.05. Results. The mean age of participants was 50.1±14.28 years. The study finding showed that the prevalence of DPN was 53.6% among study participants. According to the multivariate logistic regression age above 40 years (AOR=4.57; 95% CI: 1.50, 13.9), above 50 years (AOR=6.5; 95% CI: 2.24, 18.79), duration of diabetes above 5 years (AOR=3.06; 95% CI: 1.63, 5.77), duration above 10 years (AOR=7.1; 95% CI: 2.99, 17.28), physical inactivity (AOR=2.02; 95% CI: 1.14, 3.55), and smoking (current smoker AOR=7.96, 95% CI: 3.22, 19.64; former smoker (AOR=2.65; 95% CI: 1.22, 5.77) were independent predictors of DPN among study participants. Conclusion. Almost half of the study participants had DPN. Age above 40 years, diabetes duration of above 5 years, physical inactivity, and smoking were significantly associated with DPN. Early detection and appropriate interventions are important among patients with age above 40 years, physically inactive, smokers, and diabetes duration of above 5 years.

Malaria is a fatal disease among children in malaria-prone locations such as Addis Zemen and Woreta because of their weak immune systems. Despite the severity of the disease in children, the majority of research conducted in Ethiopia has focused on adult populations rather than children. Furthermore, there is no data on malaria prevalence, risk factors, or parasite density among children in the Addis Zemen and Woreta catchment areas. Therefore, this study was aimed at filling the above gap in the study area. About 422 children were enrolled in the study by systematic sampling technique. A capillary blood sample was collected from each child to do blood film. The overall prevalence of malaria among children attending South Gonder health institutions was 14.7%. The majority of parasite density was moderate parasitemia followed by low parasitemia, giving 71.0% and 16.0%, respectively. Malaria parasite infection was linked to a history of malaria and the presence of stagnant water near a home, but utilization of insecticide-treated bed nets was found to be protective against the infection. Therefore, health education should be strengthened on proper utilization of bed nets, indoor residual spraying, removing stagnant water by discarding old tires that may collect rainwater, and removing debris from streams so streams flow more freely.

Background Although emergency health-care services, particularly clinical and surgical care, are an important part of the provision of high quality health care in Ethiopia, infections related with surgical care are still the most well-known medical services-related diseases. This study aimed to assess the bacterial profiles and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolates among patients diagnosed with surgical site infections at Mizan-Tepi university teaching hospital, southwest Ethiopia. Methodology A prospective observational cohort study was conducted from June to September 2021. Patient data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Follow-up of patients who had undergone a surgical procedure was conducted for at least 30 days. Wound swabs were collected from patients suspected to have surgical site infections (SSIs) and cultured onto appropriate culture media. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the disk diffusion technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25.0. Frequencies and cross-tabulation were used to summarize descriptive statistics. Results In this study, the postoperative SSIs rate was 12.6%. All patients with SSIs were culture positive, and a total of 41 bacterial isolates were detected. Of these, 73.2% were Gram-negative, 26.8% were Gram-positive and 24.2% were a mixture of two bacterial growths. Escherichia coli accounted for 29.3%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (19.5%), Proteus species (14.6%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.2%). With the exceptions of amikacin and meropenem, which exhibited very high sensitivity, ranging from 33.3–100.0% isolates was resistant against all other tested antibiotics. The resistance rate to three or more classes of antibiotics was 100.0%. Conclusion In this study, the most isolated bacteria causing SSIs were Gram-negative and multidrug-resistant strains. This event highlights that surveillance of the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern coupled with the implementation of the strict protocol for antibiotic use and operative room regulations is important to minimize the burden of SSIs.

Background Ethiopia is among sub-Saharan African countries with a high number of malaria cases each year, with most of the landmass favoring the breeding of the vectors. There have been extensive efforts to control and prevent the transmission of malaria, which is part of the country’s prevention-based health policy. Objective This study aimed to determine malaria prevalence and associated risk factors among patients visiting Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital (MTUTH). Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2021 among patients visiting MTUTH, Southwest Ethiopia. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data, and a capillary blood sample was collected after obtaining written informed consent from the study participants. The data were entered into Epi-data manager (v4.0.2.101) and analyzed with SPSS version 25.0, with a P-value of < 0.05 set as a significance. Results A total of 439 patients participated, of which 20.7% (91) were positive for malaria parasites, with a higher prevalence observed among the age group interval of 25–34 years (5.5%). Inadequate access to insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) 23.9% (105) and a low level of ITN usage 20.5% (90) were recorded. Patients living in areas of stagnant water were more likely to get infected with the malaria parasite (AOR = 16.191, 95% CI: 9.137, 28.692) compared to those who live away from stagnant water, and individuals living in houses not sprayed with insecticides were more susceptible to malaria infection (AOR = 0.215, 95% CI: 0.128, 0.360). Conclusion The overall malaria prevalence in this study was 20.7% (91), which proves that malaria remains a major threat to the communities in the study area, with Plasmodium falciparum contributing to most of the cases. Improving the habits of ITN usage and indoor residual spray through health education may help to reduce the impact of malaria in the study area.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and became pandemic after emerging in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in districts of southwest Ethiopia. A study was conducted on COVID-19 surveillance data in the diagnostic center of the southwest district of Ethiopia from July 1, 2020, to February 30, 2021. A total of 10 618 nasopharyngeal specimens were tested for SARS-COV-2 using the detection of unique sequences of virus RNA by reverse transcriptase PCR. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between COVID-19 and risk factors, with a significance level of P = 0.05. A total of 10 618 individuals were tested for SARS-CoV-2. Of these, 419 (3.9%) patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Among a total of 419 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 80.2% were asymptomatic, 264 (63.0%) were males, and 233 (55.6%) were aged 19 to 35 years. Comorbidity was present in 37 (8.8%). The risk of getting SARS-CoV-2 infections was increased with male sex (AOR = 1.248; 95% CI: 1.007, 1.547), health workers (AOR = 3.187; 95% CI: 1.960, 5.182), prisoners (AOR = 2.118; 95% CI: 1.104, 4.062), and comorbid conditions (AOR = 2.972; 95% CI: 1.649, 5.358), such as diabetes (AOR = 4.765; 95% CI: 1.977-11.485) and other respiratory problems (AOR = 3.267; 95% CI: 1.146-9.317). Despite the fact that overall laboratories confirmed prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the study area was low and dynamic, it was spread to all zones of the study area. This highlights the importance of implementing the most effective public health strategies to prevent the further spread and reduce the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections.