The existing seroepidemiological data on viral hepatitis in Ethiopia showed a wide variation in prevalence pattern and the clinical and public health burden have been underestimated. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide a clear and comprehensive estimation of viral hepatitis epidemiology and the potential clinical burdens in Ethiopia. A comprehensive literature search was carried out from five decades (1968–2015) published studies from biomedical databases; PubMed, Google scholar, Medline and Web of Science. The overall pooled prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) was 7.4% (95%CI: 6.5–8.4). The pooled prevalence among subgroups showed 5.2% (95%CI: 3.7–7.4) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals, 8.0% (95%CI: 5.9–10.7) in community based studies, 8.4% (95%CI: 5.4–12.7) in blood donors, 11.0% (95%CI: 7.5–15.9) in immigrants and 6.9% (95%CI: 5.6–8.5) in other groups. Among study parameters considered during meta-regression analysis, only study years were associated with a decreasing HBV prevalence rate over time. The overall pooled prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) was 3.1% (95%CI: 2.2–4.4). Unlike HBV, the anti-HCV prevalence in HIV infected individuals was higher (5.5%, 95%CI: 3.8–7.8%, p = 0.01) than the prevalence observed in the other subgroup of study population. Although relatively few data were available, hepatitis virus A (HAV), D (HDV) and E (HEV) were also circulated in Ethiopia. This review indicates that all types of viral hepatitis origins are endemic in Ethiopia. Adapting a recommended diagnostic and treatment algorithm of viral hepatitis in the routine healthcare systems and implementing prevention and control policies in the general population needs an urgent attention.

Introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa was a hot debate due to many concerns about adherence, logistics and resistance. Currently, it has been significantly scaled up. However as the WHO clinico-immunological approaches for initiation and monitoring of ART in the region lacks viral load determination and drug resistance monitoring, HIV infected adults and children may be at risk for "unrecognized" virologic failure and the subsequent development of antiretroviral drug resistance. This study evaluates the virological efficacy and immunological recovery of HIV/AIDS patients under ART.

Background: Cervical cancer is caused by infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs). It is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Ethiopia and globally. To develop efficient vaccination and HPV-based cervical cancer screening approaches, data on genotype distribution of HPVs is crucial. Hence, the study was aimed to review HPV genotype distribution in Ethiopia. Methods: Research articles were systematically searched using comprehensive search strings from PubMed/Medline and SCOPUS. Besides, Google Scholar was searched manually for grey literature. The last search was conducted on 18 August 2021. The first two authors independently appraised the studies for scientific quality and extracted the data using Excel sheet. The pooled HPV genotype distribution was presented with descriptive statistics. Results: We have included ten studies that were reported from different parts of the country during 2005 and 2019. These studies included 3633 women presented with different kinds of cervical abnormalities, from whom 29 different HPV genotypes with a sum of 1926 sequences were reported. The proportion of high-risk, possible/probable high-risk and low-risk HPVs were at 1493 (77.5%), 182 (9.4%) and 195 (10.1%), respectively. Of the reported genotypes, the top five were HPV 16 (37.3%; 95% CI 35.2.1–39.5%), HPV 52 (6.8%; 95% CI 5.8–8.0%), HPV 35 (4.8%; 95% CI 3.9–5.8%), HPV 18 (4.4%; 95% CI 3.5–5.3%) and HPV 56 (3.9%: 95% CI 3.1–4.9%). Some of other HR-HPV groups include HPV 31 (3.8%), HPV 45 (3.5%), HPV 58 (3.1%), HPV 59(2.3%), and HPV 68 (2.3%). Among the high-risk types, the combined prevalence of HPV 16/18 was at 53.7% (95% CI 51.2–56.3%). HPV 11 (2.7%: 95% CI 2.1–3.5%), HPV 42 (2.1%: 95% CI 1.5–2.8%) and HPV 6 (2.1%: 95% CI 1.4–2.7%) were the most common low-risk HPV types. Conclusions: We noted that the proportion of HR-HPV types was higher and HPV 16 in particular, but also HPV 52, HPV 35 and HPV 18, warrant special attention in Ethiopian’s vaccination and HPV based cervical screening program. Additional data from other parts of the country where there is no previous HPV genotype report are needed to better map the national HPV genotypes distribution of Ethiopia.

Following the extensive non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and behavioral changes in the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, an interseasonal rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases was observed in Germany in 2021. The aim of this study was to characterize the local molecular epidemiology of RSV infections in comparison to the three pre-pandemic seasons. Additionally, clinical data were retrieved from patient charts to determine the clinical significance of RSV infections. RSV detections peaked in calendar week 40 of 2021, 18 weeks earlier than the usual peak observed in the three pre-pandemic seasons. Sequence analysis revealed a close phylogenetic relatedness regardless of the season of origin. A significantly higher amount of pediatric cases (88.9% of all cases, p < 0.001) was observed for season 2021/2022. For the pediatric cases, significant differences were observed for an increased number of siblings in the household (p = 0.004), a lower rate of fever (p = 0.007), and a reduced amount of co-infections (p = 0.001). Although the mean age of the adult patients was significantly younger (47.1 vs. 64.7, p < 0.001), high rates of comorbidities, lower respiratory tract infections and intensive care unit admissions prevailed. The NPIs in the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a tremendous impact on the epidemiologic characteristics and seasonality of RSV and warrant further epidemiologic studies of this important pathogen.

Background: The hepatitis B and D virus (HBV/HDV) hepatocyte entry inhibitor bulevirtide (BLV) has been available in Europe since July 2020, after the registrational trial MYR202. Real-life data on the efficacy and safety of BLV are sparse. Methods: We have analysed the course of treatment with BLV (2 mg/day) plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) (245 mg/day) in patients with chronic hepatitis delta (CHD). Virologic (≥2 log reduction in HDV RNA or suppression of HDV RNA below the lower limit of detection) and biochemical (normalisation of serum ALT) treatment responses after 24 weeks were defined according to the MYR202 trial. Results: Seven patients were recruited (four with liver cirrhosis Child–Pugh A). After 24 weeks, a virologic response was observed in five of seven and a biochemical response was seen in three of six patients with elevated serum ALT at baseline. Extended treatment data > 48 weeks were available in three cases: two presented with continuous virologic and biochemical responses and in one individual an HDV-RNA breakthrough was observed. Adverse effects were not recorded. Conclusions: The first real-life data of the approved dosage of 2 mg of BLV in combination with TDF confirm the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the registrational trial MYR202 for a treatment period of 24 weeks and beyond.

Despite the increasing use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) recent data on frequency and pattern of drug resistance mutations in Ethiopia is not available. Furthermore with increasing mobility of people HIV-1 subtypes other than the predominant subtype C may likely be introduced from the neighbouring countries. This study was aimed to determine the molecular characterization and pre-antiretroviral treatment resistance mutations among HIV-1 chronically infected ART naïve patients after the roll out of ART in Ethiopia.