Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common health problem among pregnant women. Proper investigation and prompt treatment are needed to prevent serious life threatening condition and morbidity due to urinary tract infection that can occur in pregnant women. Recent report in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia indicated the prevalence of UTI in pregnant women was 11.6 % and Gram negative bacteria was the predominant isolates and showed multi drug resistance. This study aimed to assess bacterial profile that causes urinary tract infection and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern among pregnant women visiting antenatal clinic at University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.

Background: Anaemia is known to be one of the outcomes of parasitic infection and it may result in impaired cognitive development, reduced physical work capacity and in severe cases increased risk of mortality, particularly during the prenatal period. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of anaemia among pregnant women in Gilgel-Gibe dam area, southwestern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional community based study was conducted on 388 pregnant women living in three districts around Gilgel Gibe Dam area, southwestern Ethiopia. Socio-demographic and socio-economic data were collected from each participant. A single stool sample was also collected from each selected pregnant woman. Haemoglobin concentration was determined by the cyanmethemoglobin method. Plasmodium infection prevalence and intensity were assessed with thin and thick blood film examination. Results: Of the total 388 study participants, 209 (53.9%) were anaemic. Pregnant woman who were rural residents (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.62, 95% C.I: 1.02-2.62, P= 0.042), not using insecticide treated nets (ITNs) during the study period (AOR = 2.84, 95% C.I: 1.33-6.05, p = 0.007), those who were Plasmodium malaria infected (AOR = 11.19, 95% C.I: 3.31-37.7, p= 0.01) and those with Soil Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections (AOR=1.82, 95% C.I: 1.16-2.87, p=0.001) had higher odds of being anaemic than those who were urban residents, using ITNs, free of Plasmodium malaria and Soil transmitted helminth infection, respectively. There was a significant correlation between increasing hookworm parasite load (r = −.110, P< 0.001), Ascaris lumbricoides (r = −.122, P < 0.001) and Trichuris trichiura(r = −.025, P < 0.001) and decreasing hematocrit values. Conclusion: The high prevalence of anaemia indicates it is currently a serious health problem of pregnant women living in Gilgel Gibe Dam area. Plasmodium malaria and soil transmitted helminth infections were significantly associated with anaemia. Antenatal care should promote de-worming and education on personal hygiene. Therefore, there is a need to design strategies that help to diagnose pregnant women for malaria and STH infections during their antenatal care (ANC) visit instead of testing for only haemoglobin (Hgb) levels and blood group.

Several micronutrients are essential for adequate growth of children. However, little information is available on multiple micronutrient status of school children in Ethiopia. The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between multiple micronutrient levels and nutritional status among school children.

Background: The emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with complex drug resistance profiles necessitates a rapid and comprehensive drug susceptibility test for guidance of patient treatment. We developed two targeted-sequencing workflows based on Illumina MiSeq and Nanopore MinION for the prediction of drug resistance in M. tuberculosis toward 12 antibiotics. Methods: A total of 163 M. tuberculosis isolates collected from Hong Kong and Ethiopia were subjected to a multiplex PCR for simultaneous amplification of 19 drug resistance-associated genetic regions. The amplicons were then barcoded and sequenced in parallel on MiSeq and MinION in respective batch sizes of 24 and 12 samples. A web-based bioinformatics pipeline, BacterioChek-TB, was developed to translate the raw datasets into clinician-friendly reports. Results: Both platforms successfully sequenced all samples with mean read depths of 1,127× and 1,649×, respectively. The variant calling by MiSeq and MinION could achieve 100% agreement if variants with an allele frequency of <40% reported by MinION were excluded. Both workflows achieved a mean clinical sensitivity of 94.8% and clinical specificity of 98.0% when compared with phenotypic drug susceptibility test (pDST). Turnaround times for the MiSeq and MinION workflows were 38 and 15 h, facilitating the delivery of treatment guidance at least 17–18 days earlier than pDST, respectively. The higher cost per sample on the MinION platform ($71.56) versus the MiSeq platform ($67.83) was attributed to differences in batching capabilities. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the interchangeability of MiSeq and MinION platforms for generation of accurate and actionable results for the treatment of tuberculosis.

Bovine tuberculosis is among the primary zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis which has significant impact on the health of livestock and human. It has been significantly a cause for great economic loss in animal production. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2014 to June 2016 on 315 cattle in selected areas of eastern Ethiopia, aiming to estimate the occurrence of bovine tuberculosis using comparative intradermal tuberculin skin test and assess cattle owners’ awareness on its public health implication. Random sampling method was applied in order to select animals from farm/household and associated risk factors were recorded before purified protein derivative (PPD) injection. Forty three farm/household owners of tuberculin tested animals were interviewed using pre-tested structured questionnaires. The overall prevalence of bovine tuberculosis was 20.3% (n = 64) in dairy cattle at recommended cut off > 4 mm. From a total of 43 farms/households tested, 22 were positive; each farm exhibited at least one tuberculin positive reactor animal with a total herd level prevalence of 51.2%. The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in individual animal level was significantly different (χ2 = 45.2; P-value = 0.000) in different sites with a higher prevalence (50%) in Dire Dawa. Farming system, herd size and other risk factors were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with bovine tuberculosis occurrence. Of the total interviewed farm owners, only 33% had the knowledge of or had heard about bovine tuberculosis and 23% respondents were aware of the zoonotic importance of the disease. More than 50% of the interviewees had shown their preference of raw milk consumption. Out of the total interviewed households, 3 (7%) farm workers had TB cases that had direct contact with the animals. The study showed bovine tuberculosis is highly prevalent. Associated risk factors contributed to the prevalence of the disease in cattle and its transmission. Moreover, the majority of cattle owners lack awareness about the disease and its public health significance. Awareness rising about the disease, its transmission and zoonotic implication is of great importance for reduction and control measures. Evidence of tuberculosis patient farm attendants calls also for further detail investigation.

Parasitic infections have been shown to have deleterious effects on host nutritional status. In addition, although helmintic infection can modulate the host inflammatory response directed against the parasite, a causal association between helminths and allergy remains uncertain. The present study was therefore designed to evaluate the relationship between nutritional status, parasite infection and prevalence of allergy among school children.