BackgroundSurgical Site infections are the second most frequently reported infections of all nosocomial infections among hospital patients. Among surgical patients in obstetrics, Surgical Site Infections were the most common nosocomial infections and the rate is higher in sub-Saharan Africa. There has not been a study which documented the extent of the problem in the study area; hence the objective of this study was to determine the surgical site infection rate among women having surgery for delivery in obstetrics of Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH) from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010.MethodsA prospective descriptive study design was conducted with the aim of determining the surgical site infection rate on all 770 women who had surgery for delivery from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 in obstetric ward of the Hospital. Data on history of the patient, patient specific demographic information on potential risk factors and the occurrence of Surgical Site infections in the first 30 days following surgery were collected using pretested data collection form. In addition, relevant data were also abstracted from the operation logbook of the cases. Then data were cleaned, edited and fed to computer and analyzed using SPSS for window version 16.0. Finally Statistical test for significance was employed using chi-squared (X 2) where appropriate at 5% level of significance.ResultsThe mean (±SD) of the subjects' age was 26(±7) years and the majority of the women were from the rural areas (72.7%). The overall surgical site infection rate was 11.4%. Of those who had surgical site infections, 64.8% had clean-contaminated wound and 35.2% had contaminated /dirty wounds. Wound class at time of surgery has a statistically significant association with Surgical Site infections (p <0.001).The Surgical Site infections rate was similar for cesarean section and abdominal hysterectomy but higher for destructive delivery under direct vision. Majority of the operations were made for emergency Obstetric conditions (96.6%) and the Surgical Site Infections rate was two times higher compared to that of elective surgery. Chorioamnionitis, presence of meconium, large intraoperative blood loss and Perioperative blood transfusion were associated with increased severity of SSIs with p < 0.001. Absence of antenatal care follow up was also associated with increased severity of Surgical Site Infections.ConclusionIt has been revealed that Surgical Site Infections rates are higher than acceptable standards indicating the need for improving Antenatal care, increasing the number of skilled birth attendants at the local clinics, increasing basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care services, applying improved surgical techniques and improving infection prevention practices to decrease infection rate to acceptable standard.

BackgroundThis study was carried out to determine the incidence and predictors of anti-tuberculosis drug induced hepatotoxicity among TB/HIV co-infected patients at Jimma University Hospital, Ethiopia.Methods/Principal FindingsA nested case-control study was conducted by reviewing charts of all TB/HIV co-infected patients who commenced anti-TB treatment from January 2008 to December 2011 at Jimma University Hospital. Patients who had developed hepatotoxicity after at least 5 days of standard doses of anti-TB drug therapy were labeled as “cases” and those without hepatotoxicity were “controls”. Each case with anti-TB drug induced hepatotoxicity was compared with 3 controls selected randomly from the cohort. From a cohort of 296 TB/HIV co-infected patients 8 were excluded from the study as the causality between anti-TB drugs and hepatotoxicity was not confirmed, 33 had developed hepatotoxicity. On bivariate logistic regression analysis, body mass index (BMI) <18.5 Kg/m2 [P = 0.01; OR (95%CI): 3.6 (1.4–9.5)], disseminated pulmonary TB [P = 0.00; OR (95%CI): 5.6 (2.2–14.6)], CD4 count ≤50 [P = 0.016; OR (95%CI): 3.6(1.27–10.23)] and WHO stage 4 [P = 0.004, OR (95%CI): 3.8 (1.68–8.77)] were significantly associated with anti-TB drug induced hepatotoxicity. Predictor variables with p-value <0.05 by bivariate analysis were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression analysis and identified disseminated pulmonary TB [P = 0.001; AOR (95%CI)  = 5.6 (2.1–15.0)] and BMI <18.5 [P = 0.014; AOR (95%CI)  = 3.6 (1.3–10.1)] as independent predictors of anti-TB drug induced hepatotoxicity.ConclusionsThe incidence of anti-TB drug induced hepatotoxicity was 11.5%. The results suggest that in the presence of disseminated pulmonary TB and/or BMI <18.5 Kg/m2, TB/HIV co-infected patients should be closely followed for the occurrence of hepatotoxicity during the intensive phase of TB treatment to prevent morbidity and mortality.