Background: Addressing the nutritional needs of adolescents could be an important step towards breaking the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition. Objective: Assess nutritional status of rural adolescent girls. Design: Cross-sectional. Methods: Anthropometric and socio-demographic information from 211 adolescent girls representing 650 randomly selected households from thirteen communities in Tigray was used in data analysis. Height-for-age and BMI-for-age were compared to the 2007 WHO growth reference. Data were analyzed using SAS, Version 9.1. Results: None of the households reported access to adolescent micronutrient supplementation. The girls were shorter and thinner than the 2007 WHO reference population. The cross-sectional prevalence of stunting and thinness were 26.5% and 58.3%, respectively. Lack of latrine facilities was significantly associated with stunting (p = 0.0033) and thinness (p<0.0001). Age was strong predictor of stunting (r 2 = 0.8838, p<0.0001) and thinness (r 2 = 0.3324, p<0.0001). Conclusion: Undernutrition was prevalent among the girls. Strategies to improve the nutritional status of girls need to go beyond the conventional maternal and child health care programs to reach girls before conception to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Further, carefully designed longitudinal studies are needed to identify the reasons for poor growth throughout the period of adolescence in this population. IntroductionAdolescence is an intense anabolic period when requirements for all nutrients increase. During adolescence, 20% of final adult height and 50% of adult weight are attained, bone mass increases of 45% and dramatic bone remodeling occur and soft tissues, organs, and even red blood cell mass increase in size (1). This situation is further complicated when adolescents are often exposed to infections and parasites that can compromise nutritional status. Among those sexually active, there is also an increased risk of infection from sexually transmitted diseases.

Objective: Estimate levels of and identify factors contributing to child malnutrition in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Rural communities from four zones of Tigray. Subjects: Three hundred and eighteen under five children representing 587 randomly selected households were included. Results: Among the children surveyed, 46.9%, 33.0% and 11.6% were stunted, underweight and wasted, respectively. Older children were more likely to be undernourished. Stunting increases from 16% in the second half of the first year to 53% in children 24 months and older. Similarly, underweight increases from 10% in the first six months to 36.5% in children aged 24 months and older. A very high proportion of the mothers (80%) initiated feeding of newborns with pre-lacteal feeds primarily butter or water. Family foods and cereal-based porridge were the main complementary foods after six months. Child age, maternal anthropometric characteristics, inadequate complementary foods, the use of prelacteal feeds and area of residence were the main contributing factors to child undernutrition. Conclusion: Undernutrition gets worse as the children grow older. The energy and nutrient density of the complementary foods are low as the foods were prepared from a limited number of local staple cereals without the addition of sugar, fat/oil or animal products. More importantly, these foods are diluted with water to reduce their viscosity. This makes the quality and quantity of the foods insufficient to prevent stunting and underweight. Promotion of traditional household technologies such as germination and fermentation may be affordable measures to improve the quality of the complementary foods. Thus, sustained nutrition education programmes focusing on appropriate complementary feeding practices are recommended.

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Background: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide that affects developing countries and young women in particular. Out of many types of female cancers, cancer of the cervix could be prevented if appropriate medical interventions are taken on time. Pap smear is a means for early detection of premalignant stages and treatment before the disease advances to a late stage. However, its practice remains unsatisfactory in many countries including Eritrea. Objective: The aim of the study was to illustrate knowledge, attitude and level of cervical cancer and Pap smear practice and associated factors among female students of Orotta College of Medicine and Health sciences (OCMHS). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among female undergraduate students in OCMHS enrolled during the academic year 2018-2019. A total of 252 students participated in the study. Piloted, structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to assess the distribution and to identify associations between independent and outcome variables respectively. Results: Majority of the students, 171 (68.4%), were 18-21 years old and 159 (63.6%) were second and third year students. One hundred thirty six (54.4%) students had inadequate knowledge and one hundred twenty three (49.2%) had negative attitude towards cervical cancer screening. Only two (0.8%) participants had ever been screened with Pap smear test. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, level of education and year of study were significantly associated with knowledge of cervical cancer and its screening methods. Year of study and knowledge levels were significantly associated with attitude towards cervical cancer screening (Pap smear). Conclusions: The study showed that there is a lack of knowledge of cervical cancer, unfavorable attitude towards screening methods and poor utilization of Pap smear. The study emphasized the importance of creating awareness and increasing knowledge of cervical cancer and Pap smear through numerous health education campaigns and mass media. Hence, it will be vital to integrate cervical cancer preventive measures with other reproductive health care services at all, if not at the highest, levels of health care delivery system.

Background: Perianal abscess is caused by an infection of anal glands located in between the sphincter muscles of the anal canal. An enterocutaneous fistula is a chronic manifestation of an acute perirectal process that forms an anal abscess. The rate of perianal abscess is increasing annually and the incidence of fistula formation following perianal abscess occur reportedly at a higher rate. Precise diagnosis of a recto-cutaneous fistula is a key factor in its eventual management. This article discusses a diagnostic approach to a rare case of a recto-cutaneous fistula using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Case Report: A 24-year-old male presented with a 3 ×3 cm right buttock lesion of 5 months' duration. The wound had a scanty whitish discharge and flatus passage. He had been diagnosed with perianal abscess twice before, for which incision and drainage was done. The problem did not resolve and he had an additional, yet futile, explorative surgery. Physical examination revealed an opening on right buttock with spontaneous purulent discharge. Laboratory analysis of fluid specimen yielded no active bacterial growth. The patient had prolonged antibiotic treatment with no improvement. Pelvic MRI identified a long and deep fistulous tract extending from the right gluteal region into the muscular plane of the gluteus, invading the pubo-rectalis muscle and above levator ani muscle deep into the rectum, compatible with a recto-cutaneous fistula. Conclusion: Although rare, recto-cutaneous fistula should be diagnosed as early as possible to avoid long-lasting complications. There are several examinations to diagnose perianal fistula and MRI is of particular interest in assessment of fistula depth, route and extension given its high diagnostic accuracy. This report can aid surgeons in making accurate surgical plans pre-operatively and minimizing harm caused by surgery to patients.