Background In the year 2019, around 5 million children under age five died and most of the deaths happened in developing countries. Though large numbers of deaths are reported in such countries, limited availability of data poses a substantial challenge on generating reliable estimates. Hence, this study aims to assess the prevalence and factors associated with under-five mortality in southeastern Ethiopia. Methods A register based cross sectional study was conducted from 1st September 2014 to July 2019 in Asella teaching and referral hospital. A total of 4901 under-five age children registered on the admission and discharge book of pediatric ward with complete information were included for the analysis. Data entry and analysis were conducted using Epidata Version 7 and SPSS version 21, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the characteristics of the study participants and their condition at discharge. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with its 95% Confidence interval and P-value less than 5% was used to decide the statistically significant association. Results The prevalence of under-five mortality among admitted children in Asella Teaching and Referral hospital was 8.7% (95% CI 7.91–9.50%). Post-Neonatal and Child mortality were found to be 9.1% and 8.18%, respectively. Moreover, large numbers of death (45.2%) were seen within the first 2 days of admission. Address (AOR:1.4(1.08–1.81)), HIV status (AOR:4.64 (2.19–9.8)), severe acute malnutrition (AOR:2.82 (2.03–3.91)), hypovolemic shock (AOR:4.32 (2.31–8.1)), type I diabetes with DKA (AOR:3.53(1.34–9.29) and length of stay in the hospital for ≤2 days (AOR: 4.28 (3.09–5.95)) as well as 3–4 days (AOR: 1.48 (1.02–2.15)) were among the identified predictors. Conclusions Though childhood mortality is swiftly decreasing, and access and utilization of health care is improving in Ethiopia, our study found large prevalence of under-five mortality, 8.7% and higher number of deaths in early days of admission. Improving the quality of service has a paramount importance in reducing the mortality and managing associated factors contributing to under-five mortality among admitted children.
Background: During these moments of anxiety, fear and to an extent despair , it is imperative for everyone to access the right information by breaking down the science and medical terminologies used to express the scenarios emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic to the public. Forward: This commentary focuses on the most asked questions that when not answered with scientific grounds to convince the non-medics can result in non-science based infodemics. The brief history behind COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, the science of SARS-CoV-2, the taxonomy of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, a brief on the Pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2, the genetic make up of SARS-CoV-2, people most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, antibodies against COVID-19, Mother to baby transmission, conspiracy theories reagading whether this virus is weaponized, mutations occurring with SARS-CoV-2 and if we should expect to see COVID-19 in the future are all explained at great length while making references to the existing publications regarding this pandemic. Conclusion: While the science regarding this virus is not exhausted, we confirmed the knowledge gap between non-medics and medics is wide and the results emerging from the pandemic to form data are questionable, it is our collective responsibility to fight against this virus in order to stop further spreading by providing the right information to the public. If we would not come together to fight to win this battle, we might be witnessing many large cities turning into emerging epicenters of the disease.
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