Community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) is an effective program to manage children with acute malnutrition, including both severe and moderate acute malnutrition. However, little is known about continued child nutritional status after discharge from community based management of acute malnutrition programs in Ethiopia. The study aimed to identify factors associated with relapse of acute malnutrition among children 6–59 months after been discharged recovered from community based management program in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A case-control study was conducted in three districts of South Gondar Zone by tracing children age 6–59 months who were reported as recovered from the community based management program. Sample size calculated for the first objective of assessing prevalence of severe acute malnutrition among children following discharge as recovery using Epi- Info version 7.1.3.3 StatCalc taking 95% CL, 17.8% post discharge relapse (Ashraf H, et al. (2012), 3% margin of error, design effect of 2 and adding 5% non-response rate was the largest sample size and used to this study. Children with Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) = 12.5cm served as controls. Data were collected from 10 November 2017 to 30 January 2018 using a survey questionnaire and families were asked to bring children to a health facility for anthropometric measurements, following which data were entered and analyzed. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to measure association between the risk factors and acute malnutrition. Overall, 1,273 participants were interviewed. The mean age in months of children was 23.1 (±9.1 SD) for cases and 23.1 (±8.9 SD) for controls. About 40% of the cases and 50% of the controls were female children. The factors associated with acute malnutrition were: male children (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.42–2.39), living in a food insecure household (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI:1.15–2.44), non-receipt of Vitamin A supplement (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.28–2.41), prelacteal feeding (AOR = 2.81 (95%CI, 1.57–5.05), distance to water source more than 15 walk (AOR = 1.88, 95% CI:1.32–2.71), less frequent self-reported hand washing (AOR = 1.35, 95% CI:1.05–1.75), mother not having consumed extra food during this pregnancy/lactation (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.03–1.78), and respondent age above 30 years (AOR = 1.43, 95% CI:1.10–1.87). The key factors contributing to relapse of acute malnutrition were related to childcare and feeding practices. Social and behavior change communication strategies targeting families at risk of undernutrition, along with improved food security and integrated programming are recommended to prevent relapse of acute malnutrition.

Background: Community-based management of acute malnutrition has been reported effective in terms of recovery rate, but recovered children may be at increased risk of developing acute malnutrition after returning to the same household (HH) environment.Objective: Compare the magnitude and factors associated with acute malnutrition among recovered and never treated children in South Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia.Method: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts of South Gondar Zone by tracing 720 recovered and an equal number of age matched children who were never treated for acute malnutrition. Parents were asked to bring children to health post for survey data collection, anthropometric measurements, and edema assessment. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire, entered in to EpiData and analyzed using SPSS v20. Anthropometric indices were generated according to the WHO’s 2006 Child Growth Standards using WHO Anthro software version 3.2.2. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was utilized. Values withP< 0.05 were considered statistically significant and Odds Ratio with 95% CI was used to measure strength of association.Result: A total of 1,440 parents were invited, of which 1,414 participated (98.2% response rate). Mean age in months of children (±SD) was 23.7 (±10.4) for recovered and 23.3 (±10.8) for comparison group. About 49% of recovered and 46% of comparison children were females. A significant difference was observed on magnitude of acute malnutrition between recovered (34.2% (95% CI [30.9–38.0]) and comparison groups (26.7% (95% CI [23.5–30.2]),P= 0.002. Factors associated with acute malnutrition among recovered were district of Ebnat (AOR = 3.7; 95% CI [1.9–7.2]), Tach-Gayint (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI [1.2–4.7]); male child (AOR = 1.4; 95% CI [1.0–2.0]); prelactal feeding (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI [1.3 –5.1]); not feeding colostrum (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI [1.1–2.3]); not consuming additional food during pregnancy/lactation (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI [1.1–2.3]); not given Vitamin A supplement (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI [1.4–3.2]); and safe child feces disposal practice (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI [1.2–2.5]) while district of Tach-Gayint (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI [1.3–4.8]); male child (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI [1.1–2.1]), not feeding colostrum (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI [1.2–2.5]), poor hand washing practice (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI [1.1–2.2]); food insecure HH (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI [1.1–2.4]), birth interval <24 months (AOR = 1.9; 95% CI [1.2–3.2]), and poor access to health facility (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI [1.2–2.4]) were factors associated with acute malnutrition among comparison group.Conclusion: Recovered children were more at risk of acute malnutrition than the comparison group. Nutrition programs should invest in improving nutrition counseling and education; as well as the hygienic practices to protect children against post-discharge relapse of acute malnutrition.

Children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are identified for admission to outpatient therapeutic programs using mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) or weight for height (WHZ). However, MUAC and WHZ do not identify the same children, and such observed differences might have programmatic implications of missed nutrition therapy if only MUAC is used to identify children with SAM. The objective of the study was to assess any difference in prevalence and degree of agreement between MUAC and WHZ in identifying SAM affected children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia, among 17 districts, with 3 districts and 10 health centers with their clustered health posts selected randomly. A total of 2,040 children were recruited, and data were collected using a parent questionnaire then entered into EpiData and analyzed using SPSS v 20. A total of 1,980 respondents (97.1) were interviewed, all of whom were female and rural residents. Childrens mean age in months was 23.2 (SD 9.7), and 54 were male children. The prevalence of SAM based on MUAC <11.5cm was 11.2 (95 CI: 9.912.7) and 11.0 (95 CI: 9.712.5) based on WHZ <3. The agreement between MUAC and WHZ was good (k=0.729). The proportion of children with SAM identified using both MUAC and WHZ was 61.2. The prevalence of SAM identified using both MUAC and WHZ was comparable. A substantial degree of agreement between MUAC and WHZ was observed to diagnose SAM. Therefore, MUAC can be used as an appropriate tool in identifying children with SAM for admission into the outpatient therapeutic program (OTP) in the study area.

Background: HIV and malaria are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world including Ethiopia. Globally, HIV-malaria co-infection causes approximately 3 million deaths per year. However, both these infections are preventable if measures are taken on determinant factors. The objective of the study was therefore to assess factors associated with HIV-malaria co-infection among HIV-positive people who lived in Shewarobit district, northeast Ethiopia. Methods: Unmatched case-control study was conducted among people living with HIV (PLWHA) in Shewarobit district from February 28, 2018, to April 30, 2018. The sample size was determined taking the assumption of 95% CI, 85% power, 3:1 control to case ratio, the proportion of PLWHA-malaria coinfection of 22.7%, OR 2.73, and 10% non-response rate. The final sample size was 262 (66 cases and 196 controls). Cases were adults on anti-retroviral therapy and diagnosed positive for malaria by microscopy while controls were adults on anti-retroviral therapy and diagnosed negative for malaria by microscopy in the previous 6 months before the survey. Result: The median age of cases and controls in years was 35 (IQR = 19) and 38 (IQR = 19) respectively. Variables that had a significant association with HIV-malaria co-infection were non-in-door residual spraying (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.91; 95% CI 4.03, 15.13), poor perception on the health risk of HIV-malaria co-infections (AOR = 4.11; 95% CI 1.28, 10.17), non-use of insecticidal treated bed nets (AOR = 6.21; 95%CI 2.74, 14.11), non-use of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis (AOR = 2.42; 95% CI 1.11, 5.28), and not received health education on the risk of HIV-malaria interaction (AOR = 4.11; 95% CI 1.24, 4.84). Conclusion: Provision of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis, sleeping under an insecticidal treated bed net, and indoor residual spraying help to reduce HIV-malaria co-infection-associated morbidity/mortality.

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease endemic in Ethiopia. Despite anthrax preventive measures are the key activities to control the disease, several outbreaks have occurred in Ethiopia recently. The objective of the study was therefore to assess the anthrax preventive practice and its associated factors among farmers in Farta district, South Gondar zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers in Farta District from June 7 to 21/2020. A multi-stage sampling technique, with systematic random sampling, was used to select 1,338 study participants. Data were collected through a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The data were cleaned, coded, and entered into the Epi-data v 3.1 and then exported to SPSS v 23 for analysis. In the bi-variable regression analysis, the variables having a p-value of less than 0.2 were entered into a multivariable logistic regression to control the effect of confounding. Those independent variables with P-value less than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant factors associated with anthrax prevention practice. The proportion of farmers who had good anthrax prevention practice was 35.8% [95% CI 33%, 38%]. Being female (AOR = 2.96; 95% CI 2.18, 4.02), able to read and write (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.08, 2.03), time spent to arrive at a nearby veterinary clinic (AOR = 1.35; 95%CI 1.01, 1.79), heard about anthrax (AOR = 4.54; 95%CI 2.96, 6.95), and had a favorable attitude towards anthrax preventions (AOR = 3.70; 95%CI 2.77, 4.94) were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice. The practice of anthrax prevention was low. Sex, educational status, time spent to arrive at the nearby veterinary clinic, knowledge about anthrax, and attitude towards anthrax prevention were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice. Health education to create a favorable attitude and the establishment of veterinary clinics in the nearby locations are recommended to improve anthrax preventive practices in the study area.

Nutrition education intervention plays a significant role in reducing blood pressure of adults. However, nutrition education intervention implementation wa