Background: Bacterial vaginosis is the most common form of vaginitis which causes abnormal vaginal discharge in woman of childbearing age, which predispose to various gynecological and obstetric problems. In Africa sub-continent, the prevalence of BV among pregnant women is different among different countries. This review aimed to show the overall prevalence and to describe the different risk factors associated with BV among pregnant women in Africa. Methods: PubMed, Medline, science direct, Google scholar and other relevant databases were searched from January 2008 to December 2018. Article retrieval and screening was done using standard procedural steps and strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. The total articles included in this review were 31 and cumulative prevalence was drawn from each country. Results: This review addressed the prevalence of BV and its associated risk factors among pregnant women and its associated risk factors conducted in 31 eligible studies from 15 different countries of Africa, in which most of the studies were from Nigeria 22.6% (7/31), Kenya 16% (5/31) and Ethiopia 13% (4/31). Samples from a total of 19,354 pregnant women 4795 were positive for BV with the overall prevalence of 24.8% (4795/19,354), and the highest cumulative prevalence was reported from two studies conducted in more than two countries (1113/2349, 47.4%). Fifteen out of 31 articles or studies (48.4%) are significantly associated with different risk factors. Out of the 15 articles 33.3% (5/15) of the associated risk factors are HIV followed by age and previous BV/STI (20%). Conclusion: The prevalence of BV among pregnant women was different in all regions of Africa with the pooled prevalence of 24.8%. HIV infected pregnant women and sexually active women (mostly in the age group of 20-30 years) were at high risk for BV and in some studies reported BV positive women are also at high risk of acquiring HIV infection.

The most important factor in the success of HIV treatment is adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).The challenge to adherence to ART is particularly serious in Sub-Saharan Africa as the high rates of HIV/AIDS lead to greater numbers of affected individuals. Although long-term good ART adherence has been observed in certain settings of public sectors the magnitude of this challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa remains large and there is evidence for high rates of patient’s poor adherence. Study aimed to assess the factors affecting adherence to pediatrics antiretroviral therapy (ART) among children in Mekelle hospital, Tigray, Ethiopia. A Hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted on 226 children on antiretroviral therapy from May 01 to 30/2014 at Mekelle hospital. Data was collected from care givers of children under 15 years old who are on ART. Of the 226 children under 15 years, 90.3 % reported complete adherence to antiretroviral therapy medications at the regular schedule over the past 7 days. Factors associated with adherence were having male care giver (AOR=2.10[1.01, 7.22]), age of the child (AOR=1.43[1.16, 3.98]) below 5 years and use of first line ART drugs (AOR=2.86[1.54, 3.67]). Over all the adherence of children on ART to their medication in this study is relatively higher as compared to others. However, complete adherence is expected in order to make the drugs effective. Different strategies have to be designed to improve the adherence level.

Background Hematological reference intervals are important in clinical and diagnostic management for the assessment of health and disease conditions. Hematological reference intervals are better to be established based on gender and age differences as these are among the main affecting factors. Objective The aim of this study was to establish hematological reference intervals among apparently healthy adolescents aged 12–17 years in Mekelle City, Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia, 2019. Method A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 249 adolescents aged 12–17 years from December 2018 to May 2019. About 4ml of blood sample was collected from each study participant using vacutainer tube containing K 2 EDTA. Hematological parameters were analyzed using Sysmex KX-21N hematology analyzer (Sysmex Corporation Kobe, Japan). Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Both parametric and non-parametric analyses were used to calculate the median and 95% of reference intervals. The 97.5 th and 2.5 th percentiles were calculated using descriptive statistics for the upper and lower reference limits of the study participants. Differences in reference intervals between male and female participants were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney U test. Result Among the 249 participants 122 (49%) were males and 127 (51%) were females with the median age of 14.5 (range 12 to 17) years were recruited in this study. The median and the 95% reference intervals of hematological parameters were determined. The 95% RIs were: Red blood cells (10 12 /Liter) 4.6–5.9 (Males) and 4.3–5.6 (Females), White blood cells (10 9 /Liter) 2.9–9.6 (Males) and 3.4–10.2 (Females), Hemoglobin (g/dl) 12.6–17.1 (Males) and 12–15.4 (Females), Platelets (10 9 /Liter) 138–364 (Males) and 151–462 (Females). Almost all of the hematological parameters showed significant differences (p<0.05) across gender. Conclusion The hematological reference intervals established in this study showed a difference based on gender. We suggest preparing and using distinct local reference intervals for males and females separately.