Background: Dengue fever is an arthropod vector-borne disease transmitted to humans by infected Aedes mosquitoes. Ethiopia has a favorable ecology for arthropods and report high burden of acute febrile illnesses. However, the contribution of arboviral infections to the burden of acute febrile illnesses is barely known. In this study the seropositivity to dengue virus infection and associated risk factors were assessed in Arba Minch districts, southern Ethiopia. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in a consecutive group of 529 acute febrile patients between May to August 2016. Socio-demographic data, residence place and clinical signs and symptoms were collected using structured questionnaires. Sera were tested for anti-dengue IgG and IgM using Euroimmune indirect immunofluorescent assay. Data analysis was done using SPSS V-20 (IBM Corp, 2012). P-value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Result: Seropositivity was 25.1% (133/529) and 8.1% (43/529) for anti- IgG and IgM respectively. Conclusion: The high IgM prevalence detected indicate the probability of active transmission with a potential of public health significance that calls for a proactive follow up of the communities in the study area to forecast and avert the risk.

Background: Dengue is caused by a positive-stranded RNA virus called dengue virus, which is spread by Aedes mosquito species. It is a fast-growing acute febrile disease with potentially lethal consequences that is a global public health problem, mostly in tropical and subtropical countries. In Ethiopia, dengue fever is understudied, although the virus is still being transmitted and viral infection rates are rising. This systematic review and meta-analysis was aimed at estimating the pooled prevalence of DENV infection in Ethiopia. Methods: A literature search was done on the PubMed, Hinari and Google Scholar databases to identify studies published before July, 2023. Random effects and fixed effects models were used to estimate the pooled prevalence of all three markers. The Inconsistency Index was used to assess the level of heterogeneity. Results: A total of 11 studies conducted on suspected individuals with dengue fever and acutely febrile participants were included in this review. The majority of the studies had a moderate risk of bias and no study had a high risk of bias. A meta-analysis estimated a pooled IgG prevalence of 21% (95% CI: 19–23), a pooled IgM prevalence of 9% (95%CI: 4–13) and a pooled DENV-RNA prevalence of 48% (95% CI: 33–62). There is evidence of possible publication bias in IgG but not in the rest of the markers. Conclusion: Dengue is prevalent among the dengue fever suspected and febrile population in Ethiopia. Healthcare providers, researchers and policymakers should give more attention to dengue fever.

Background: Dengue fever (DF) is a re-emerging public health threat in Ethiopia. Yet, little is known about the epidemiology and risk factors of dengue infection in the region. In this study, the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of dengue virus infection were assessed in the Borena Zone health facilities. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2016. A total of 519 consecutive acute febrile patients attending the outpatient departments of Teltelle Health Center, Yabello and Moyale Hospital were enrolled. Data on socio-demographic and environmental risk factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. Three to five milliliter blood samples were collected from all participants and screened for dengue virus exposure using indirect immunofluorescent assay. Results: The overall prevalence of anti-DENV IgG and IgM was 22.9% and 7.9%, respectively. DF serostatus was influenced by gender (adjusted odd ratio (AOR)=1.72; 95% CI 1.01–2.94), place of residence (AOR=2.69; 95%CL 1.55–4.64) that had a higher rate of exposure and recalling of a recent mosquito bite (AOR=2.98; 95% CI 1.51–5.89) probably imply recent and/or ongoing active transmission. Conclusion: This study showed that DF could potentially emerge as a public health threat in the study area. In addition to that, the observed low awareness of participants underlines the urgent need for further community-based studies to determine the environmental, and host factors that determine the extent of exposure to dengue virus infection in the area for appropriate control and prevention planning.

Background: Dengue fever is a re-emerging public health threat in Ethiopia. Yet, little is known about the epidemiology and risk factors. In this study the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of dengue virus infection were assessed in Borena Zone health facilities. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from May to August, 2016. A total of 519 consecutive acute febrile patients attending the outpatient departments of Teltelle health Center, Yabello and Moyale Hospital were enrolled. Data on socio-demographic and environmental risk factors were collected using structured questionnaire. Three to five milliliter blood samples were collected from all participants and screened for dengue virus exposure using indirect immunofluorescent assay. Result: The overall prevalence of anti-DENV IgG and IgM was 22.9% and 7.9% respectively. The relatively higher IgM versus IgG, absence of trend with age and little or no correlation with the assessed possible risk factors except being male (AOR=1.72; 95%CI 1.01-2.94), place of residence (AOR=0.37;95%CL 0.21-0.64) that had higher rate of exposure and recall of a recent mosquito bite (AOR=2.98; 95%CI 1.51-5.89) probably imply recent and/or ongoing active transmission. Conclusion: This study showed dengue fever could potentially emerge as public health threat in the study area. On top, the observed low awareness of participants underline the urgent need for further systematic studies to determine the environmental, and host factors that determine the extent of exposure to dengue virus infection in the area for appropriate control and prevention planning.

Background: Urinary tract infection is caused by bacteria from the digestive tract which climbs the opening of the urethra and begins to multiply to cause infection. This study aimed to assess the bacterial profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern and associated risk factors among pregnant women in Madda Walabu University Goba Referral Hospital, Southeast Ethiopia. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June-August, 2019. A total of 234 pregnant women were enrolled; data were collected using a structured questionnaire by a trained interviewer. Urine samples were collected from all pregnant women and culture on cysteine lysine electrolytes deficiency medium. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. Descriptive statistics were used to explain the study participants with relevant variables. Logistic regression was used for data comparison. P-value <0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Results: The overall prevalence of UTI was 23.9% among both asymptomatic and symptomatic groups. Of this screened midstream urine samples showed that 16% and 32.2%, had significant bacteriuria in the asymptomatic and symptomatic groups respectively. The prevalence of UTI was significantly associated with previous history of catheterization and urinary tract infection. E. coli was the most frequently isolated organism (42.9%) followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (26.8%), and S. aureus (12.5%). Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria accounted for (59%) and (41%) respectively.Conclusion: Significant bacteriuria has been observed from both symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women. The majority of the isolates were resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. This calls for an early screening of all pregnant women for UTI and those found to be infected need treatment.