Background: Opportunistic intestinal parasitic infections cause severe diarrhoea specially in infants and in immunocompromised people world wide. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess and determine the prevalence of opportunistic intestinal parasites in paediatric patients with and without diarrhoea in selected hospitals in Addis Ababa. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 222 children under five years of age who had diarrhoea and on 74 children who had no diarrhoea in selected Hospitals in Addis Ababa. Single stool specimens were collected and screened for intestinal parasitic infections by using direct and concentrated methods. The Modified Ziehl-Neelsen Staining and Modified Water-Ether Sendimentaion methods were used for detecting Coccidial parasites. Results: Of the 222 paediatric diarrhoeal patients, 61(27.5%) were found to be infected with a variety of intestinal parasites and out of 74 children without diarrhoea 11(14.9%) were found to be infected. Among the emerging opportunistic parasites detected in diarrhoeal children were Cryptosporidium parvum (8.1%), Isospora belli (2.3%) and Enterocytozoon bieneusi/ Encephalitozoon intestinalis (0.5%). Other common intestinal parasites detected were Ascaris lumbricoides (0.5%), Trichuris trichiura (0.9%), Giardia lamblia (6.3%), Entamoeba histolytica/ E. dispar (1.4%), Blastocystis hominis (5.9%) and Hymnolepis nana (0.5%). Opportunistic parasites were found to be significantly associated with diarrhoeal and non-breastfed children (p<0.001). C. parvum and I. belli respectively were isolated from 83.3% and 80% of diarrhoeal children aged less than 12 months. C. paravum and I. belli infections were also higher in male children, with a prevalence of 72.2% for C. paravum and 80% for I. belli. Conclusion: This study reaffirms and confirms the previously held view that opportunistic parasites can cause diarrhoea in paediatric patients and that it is more prevalent in male, non-breastfed children. The cause of diarrhoea in paediatrics in the absence of identifiable parasitic infections suggests that other infectious agents might be responsible for the diarrhoea.

BackgroundReference intervals (RIs) are ranges of upper and lower limits of a given analyte which are used for a laboratory test to determine whether a disease is present or absent or to know if the patient is at risk for future disease states. In Ethiopia, a country with highly diversified population groups and geographical sites, there are no established RIs to metabolic analytes including the liver function test (LFT) analytes for the pediatric population though it has been known that liver function assessment in this population is vital as a result of varied vulnerability to both endogenous and xenobiotic substances.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) and Teklehaymanot Health Center (THC) from November 2010 to April 2011. 117 cord blood (from newborns) and venous blood samples (from infants) were collected and analyzed using HumaStar 300. All pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical aspects were thoroughly controlled. A robust, CLSI/ IFCC recommended, method was used for the determination of upper and lower end points covering 95% of the reference values of each analyte with respective 90% CIs using MedCalc® software.ResultsCombined RIs for newborns and infants were established for albumin, AST, ALP, direct bilirubin and total bilirubin to be 3.88-5.82 g/dl, 16.1-55.4U/l, 130-831U/l, <0.41 mg/dl and <1.37 mg/dl respectively. But, separated RIs were indicated for ALT and GGT as 1.2-23.1U/l and 6.94-24.8U/l ALT; and 30.6-160.7U/L and 10–28.2U/l GGT for newborns and infants respectively. Some maternal and infantile factors were identified to affect the values of analytes.ConclusionAlmost all analytes were different from previously reported values for other target population of similar age group, kit insert values and adult values. So, interpretation of values of these analytes in newborns and infants of Ethiopian population sounds better to be performed by using such RIs taking the effect of some maternal and infantile factors in to account.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the nutrient and antinutrient content of two improved sweet potato varieties released for drought prone areas of eastern Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach Matured roots of two sweet potato varieties, namely, Berkume and Adu, were collected from Haramaya University, Toni Research Farm, Ethiopia. The sweet potatoes were ground into flour following standard procedure. Thereafter, proximate, dietary minerals and β-carotene were determined by official methods of analysis. The tannin and phytate contents were determined by colorimetric methods. Findings The moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ash, utilizable carbohydrate and gross energy varied from 6.23-6.61 per cent, 2.07-2.76 per cent, 1.25-1.52 per cent, 1.04-1.16 per cent, 3.38- 5.32 per cent, 90.03-91.45 per cent and 382.18-388.07 Kcal/100 g in both the sweet potato varieties. Potassium content (176.17 mg/100 g) was reported to be the highest and registered in Berkume variety, while the lowest mineral content (2.18 mg/100 g) determined was zinc in Adu sweet potato variety. The highest total carotenoid content (3.39mg/100 g) was recorded in Berkume sweet potato variety. The tannin and phytic acid contents ranged from 9.98 to 12.94 mg/100 g and from 0.24 to 0.31 mg/100 g in Berkume and Adu sweet potato varieties, respectively. Originality/value This study showed that the Berkume sweet potato variety has high nutritional potential and less antinutrient contents as compared with the nutritional value of many other roots and tuber crops documented in the FAO database and hence can contribute to reducing malnutrition in resource-poor settings of Ethiopia. Further work needs to be carried out on developing value-added products from Berkume sweet potato variety for its extensive utilization.

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