Background. Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids has become a serious public health problem for healthcare workers and is a major risk for the transmission of various infections such as human immune-deficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the career time and previous one-year global pooled prevalence of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among healthcare workers. Methods. For the review, the articles published in English were searched using the electronic databases (SCOPUS/Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, DOAJ, and MedNar) with a combination of Boolean logic operators (AND, OR, and NOT), Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), and keywords. A quality assessment was conducted to determine the relevance of the articles using JBI critical appraisal tools. Furthermore, several steps of assessment and evaluation were taken to select and analyze the relevant articles. Results. Of the 3912 articles identified through the electronic database search, 33 that met the inclusion criteria were included in the final analysis. The current study found that the global pooled prevalence of blood and body fluids among healthcare workers during career time and in the previous one year accounted for 56.6 (95 CI: 47.3, 65.4) and 39.0 (95 CI: 32.7, 45.7), respectively. Based on subgroup analysis by publication year, survey year, and World Health Organization regions, the highest prevalence of blood and body fluid exposure in the last 12 months was observed among articles published between 2004 and 2008 (66.3), conducted between 2003 and 2008 (66.6), and conducted in the Southeast Asia Region (46.9). The highest career time prevalence was 60.6, 71.0, and 68.4 for articles published between 2015 and 2020, conducted between 2015 and 2019, and reported in the African region, respectively. Conclusion. The current study revealed a high prevalence of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among healthcare workers and suggests the need to improve occupational health and safety services in healthcare systems globally.

Background: Open defecation contributes to the spread of different feco-oral diseases. Therefore, access to a latrine is strongly recommended, as it considerably reduces the risks. Even though provision of latrine facilities alone does not guarantee the desired health benefits, they should be integrated with behavior change. In Ethiopia, efforts have been made to increase the coverage of latrine facilities. However, evidence on how consistently households use it is limited. Most prior studies focused on latrine utilization among households, and limited evidence is available about open defecation practices among households with latrines and associated factors. Thus, this study is critical for developing effective intervention approaches to prevent open defecation among households with latrines.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the open defecation practice and associated factors among households with latrines in rural communities of Ararso District, Somali Region, Eastern Ethiopia, 2023.Method: A community-based, cross-sectional study design was employed among households with latrines in the district. A total of 632 households latrines were selected using a systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and an observational checklist. The questionnaire was designed in KoboTool box, Humanitarian Response software, and the data were collected using the Kobo Collect version 2023.2.4 mobile application. The data were downloaded from the server in the Microsoft Excel format for data cleaning before being exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were employed to investigate the relationship between outcome and independent variables. Odd ratios with 95% confidence intervals were utilized to assess the association between the outcome and the predictor variables. A P-value of <0.05 was used as the threshold point for statistical significance.Result: In this study, the prevalence of open defecation practice among households with latrines was 32.4% (95% CI: 28.1, 35.9). Sex of the household (AOR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.06, 2.4), educational status (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.08, 5.53), family size (AOR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.78), the presence of under-5-year-old children in the house (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.75), the need for latrine maintenance (AOR = 2.37.95% CI: 1.62, 3.48), current status of the latrine (AOR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.62, 3.48), and latrine cleanness status (being unclean) (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.29, 2.81) were significantly associated with open defecation practice among households with latrine.Conclusion: The study concluded that open defecation was significantly practiced by households with latrines. This revealed that the presence of a latrine alone was insufficient to considerably reduce open defecation. To alleviate this problem, the government and health workers, in collaboration with the health bureau, should promote frequent sanitation and hygiene education in the communities.

Background: The health effects of climate change have been found to be a global concern for the last 2 centuries. However, the effect of climate variability on diarrhoea among under-five-year-old children is perhaps undocumented or otherwise unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of climate variability on diarrhoea among children under 5 years of age. Methods: A community-based longitudinal study was conducted over 8 repeated visits from June 2016 to May 2018 at the Kersa Demographic Surveillance and Health Research Center. A total of 500 randomly selected households and their 48 improved water sources were included in the survey from 3 agro-ecological zones, the rural and urban areas of the study area. Data was collected on household characteristics, diarrhoea, WASH practices, water quality and quantity in households, and improved water sources. A structured pre-tested questionnaire, an observational check list and laboratory tests were used for data collection. The data was entered into Epi Data Version 3.01 and transferred to Stata Version 12 for analysis. Multilevel mixed-effect Poisson regression was used to determine the relationship between predictors and outcome variables. A P-value of less than .05 was the cut-off point for statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of diarrhoea in 2 weeks among children under 5 years of age was 17.2% (95% CI: 15.8-19.71). Rainfall, E. coli contamination of drinking water at the source and in the home, 20 L of water consumption per capita per day, sharing water sources with animals and home water treatment by residents of the mid- and lowlands were all predictors of diarrhoea. The space-time scan statistic confirmed that child diarrhoea had random variation in both space and time. Conclusion: Climate variability has influenced the prevalence of diarrhoea among under-five-year-old children. Climate-resilient measures should be taken to reduce the burden of diarrhoea in the community.

Background: Improper human waste management is a major health problem in most developing countries, including Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, the majority of the population used unimproved sanitation facilities and practiced open defecation. This problem is significantly higher in the rural parts of the country. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess latrine utilization and associated factors among Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) implemented and non-implemented kebeles in Tullo District, West Hararghe, and Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted in 740 households in 3 kebeles Community Led Total Sanitation implemented and 3 kebeles non-Community Lead Total Sanitation implemented for comparison. Study units were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The data was cleaned and coded before being entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between dependent and independent variables. Result: In this study, the overall prevalence of latrine utilization in the study area was 415 (56.1%) (95% CI = 52.6%, 59.9%). Of them, 243 (65.7%) (95% CI = 60.4%, 70.3%) and 172 (46.5%) (95% CI = 41.3%, 51.7%) of participants in the CLTS and non CLTS kebeles were utilized latrine, respectively. In CLTS implemented kebeles, literate (AOR = 3.66; 95% CI: 1.53, 8.73), households being visited by health extension worker (AOR = 11.72; 95% CI: 4.01, 34.31), households being graduated as model family(AOR = 7.56, 95% CI: 2.79, 20.44), ⩾2 years by years of latrine owning (AOR = 12.10, 95% CI: 3.21, 45.64), >6 meters distance of toilet to home (AOR = 27.43, 95%CI: 8.43, 89.29),Latrine with hand washing (AOR = 2.93, 95%CI: 1.19, 7.17), latrine with superstructure (AOR = 6.54, 95% CI: 2.04, 20.98) were significantly associated with latrine utilization, while in non CLTS implemented kebeles, literate (AOR = 25.78, 95% CI: 13.35, 49.78), medium wealth status(AOR = 4.87, 95% CI: 2.10, 11.29), poor wealth status(AOR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.26, 5.01) were significantly associated with latrine utilization. Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that more of the rural households had utilized latrines in CLTS implemented kebeles than non-CLTS implemented’ kebeles. So, it is recommended that the district health office increase the latrine utilization rate through the effective and sustainable implementation of the CLTS approach.