Background. Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids has become a serious public health problem for healthcare workers and is a major risk for the transmission of various infections such as human immune-deficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the career time and previous one-year global pooled prevalence of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among healthcare workers. Methods. For the review, the articles published in English were searched using the electronic databases (SCOPUS/Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, DOAJ, and MedNar) with a combination of Boolean logic operators (AND, OR, and NOT), Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), and keywords. A quality assessment was conducted to determine the relevance of the articles using JBI critical appraisal tools. Furthermore, several steps of assessment and evaluation were taken to select and analyze the relevant articles. Results. Of the 3912 articles identified through the electronic database search, 33 that met the inclusion criteria were included in the final analysis. The current study found that the global pooled prevalence of blood and body fluids among healthcare workers during career time and in the previous one year accounted for 56.6% (95% CI: 47.3, 65.4) and 39.0% (95% CI: 32.7, 45.7), respectively. Based on subgroup analysis by publication year, survey year, and World Health Organization regions, the highest prevalence of blood and body fluid exposure in the last 12 months was observed among articles published between 2004 and 2008 (66.3%), conducted between 2003 and 2008 (66.6%), and conducted in the Southeast Asia Region (46.9%). The highest career time prevalence was 60.6%, 71.0%, and 68.4% for articles published between 2015 and 2020, conducted between 2015 and 2019, and reported in the African region, respectively. Conclusion. The current study revealed a high prevalence of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among healthcare workers and suggests the need to improve occupational health and safety services in healthcare systems globally.

Background: According to the literature analysis, the majority of the studies focused primarily on public health institutions. Although assessing the compliance of healthcare workers in private and public institutions would give comprehensive evidence on existing problems and appropriate prevention method, as a result, research on adherence to standard precautions are still required. Rely on existing research, to the best of the investigator’s knowledge, compliance with standard precautions in hospitals of Bahir Dar town has not been assessed. Therefore, this study will contribute to narrowing these gaps and determining the scope of problems with standard precautions. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 442 healthcare workers working in hospitals from June 10 to 30, 2021. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. Pre-tested and structured questionnaires and an observational checklist were used to collect the required data. The data were entered into EpiData and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were used to assess the association between independent and outcome variables. Odd ratios at 95% CI were used to measure the strength of the association between the outcome and explanatory variables. Finally, a P-value of <.05 was considered as a cut-off point for statistical significance. Results: Of the 442 healthcare workers who participated in the study, 41% were compliant with standard precautions. Furthermore, 68.1% and 51.8% of the respondents had good knowledge and a positive attitude toward infection prevention, respectively. Consistent water supply availability (AOR = 1.92 and 95% CI = 1.63, 6.27), and access to infection prevention guidelines (AOR = 1.73 and 95% CI = 1.08, 2.77), and availability of personal protective equipment (AOR = 2.32 and 95% CI = 1.35, 3.98) were some of the factors significantly associated with health care workers’ compliance. Conclusions: The current study found that only about two-fifths of the healthcare workers complied with standard precautions. The study suggests that there is a significant risk of developing an infection. Therefore, the concerned organizations; Bahir Dar Zonal Health Office, and respective sectors including Amhara Regional Health Office and the Federal Ministry of Health must take appropriate measures to improve the implementation of safety practices.

Our environment is facing serious problems of high volumes of waste generation and inadequate disposal system in worldwide particularly in developing countries. There is also lack of studies on quantification of abattoir waste and lack of workers awareness towards abattoir waste. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to estimate abattoir waste for bioenergy potential as sustainable management. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four selected abattoirs of Eastern Ethiopia from January 1st, 2018 to December 30th, 2018. The magnitude of abattoir waste composition was computed based on Aniebo mathematical computational from the actual number of slaughtered livestock. The study demonstrated that four selected abattoirs generate 1,606.403 ton of abattoir waste per year and using anaerobic digestion of about 85,139 m3/year of biogas and 111.25 ton/year of biofertilizer can be produced. The biogas or energy from the waste can replace firewood and charcoal and the expensive fossil fuels. Using Banks mathematical computation about 20,054.12 m3/year production of biogas could replace 20.56 ton/year of energy consumed by liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene, charcoal, furnace oil, petrol, and diesel in average. The current estimated biofertilizer (111.25 ton/year) from four abattoir sites can cover about 2,225 hectares/year with its advantage and efficiency of soil. When turned into cost, about $55,645 per year of price could estimate from biogas and biofertilizer. The study concluded that huge amount of biogas and dry biofertilizer yields could produce from abattoir waste through anaerobic digestion. Therefore, installing anaerobic digestion plant is recommended to ensure environmental safety and public health.

BackgroundHand washing with soap and water reduces the risk of diarrheal episode by 28–48% and acute respiratory infection by 20–50%. However, there is limited evidence on hand washing practices among students in Eastern Ethiopia, particularly in Harari town. Therefore, this study aimed to determine hand washing practice among primary school students and associated factors in Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was applied among 670 students in Harar town from June 1 to 30, 2021. A multi-stage sampling was employed; 6 out of 20 schools were selected through simple random sampling, while eligible children from each school was selected by probability proportional to size sampling method. Data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire with a face-to-face interview technique and via observation. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Binary and mult-variable analysis were used to determine the association between factors and outcome variable. Finally, a p-value of &lt; 0.05 was considered to declare a statistically significant association.ResultsA total of 670 participants were included in the study, of which 248 (37.0%) had washed their hands [95% CI: 33.3–40.06]. Being in grade 8 Adjusted Odd Ratio[AOR = 4.9; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.28–10.52], living in an urban area [AOR = 3.49; 95% CI: 1.29–9.40], having role models (parents [AOR = 4.41; 95% CI: 1.79–10.86], teachers [AOR = 3.69; 95% CI: 1.39–8.81], and health professionals [AOR = 3.17, 95% CI: 1.17–8.63]), availability of hand washing facility [AOR = 3.62; 95% CI: 1.57–8.34], access to soap and water [AOR = 2.89; 95% CI: 1.39–5.98] and being membership of water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) club [AOR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.41–4.03] were found to be significantly associated with hand washing practice.ConclusionsThe current study found that nearly a third of students practiced proper hand washing. Hand washing practice was influenced by students' grade level, residence, referents (role models for hand washing), presence of a hand washing facility, access to water and soap, and membership of WASH club. Therefore, the finding revealed that there is a need to improve hand-washing practices in schools by concerned agencies.

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