BackgroundParasitic infections affect tens of millions of pregnant women worldwide, and directly or indirectly lead to a spectrum of adverse maternal and fetal/placental effects. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections and associated risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care center in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar city, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted from November 2013 to January 2014 among 384 pregnant women. Stool samples were examined for the presence of trophozoites, cysts, oocysts, and ova using direct, formal-ether sedimentation, and modified Ziehl-Neelsen techniques.ResultsAn overall prevalence of 31.5 % intestinal parasite infections was recorded. Eight different species of intestinal parasites were found: two protozoan and six helminth species. The highest prevalence was due to Giardia lamblia (13.3 %) followed by Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (7.8 %), hookworm (5.5 %), Ascaris lumbricoides (2.9 %), Schistosoma mansoni (2.9 %), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.6 %), Taenia spp. (0.8 %), and Hymenolepis nana (0.3 %).ConclusionsA relatively high prevalence of intestinal parasite infections was observed among pregnant women. Routine stool examination and provision of health education are required for early medical intervention that would affect the pregnant mothers and their foetuses.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1859-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background. Intestinal parasitic infections are the cause of the highest worldwide infectious disease and the major public health problems in developing countries. Among the cases, children and younger age are at high risk and the major victims. The aim of this study was to assess the five-year trend of intestinal parasite prevalence among University of Gondar students. Method. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the trend of intestinal parasite prevalence among students at the University of Gondar. The data was collected from students who have studied at the University of Gondar from 2014 to 2018 and who visited the student’s clinic and had recorded results of stool sample diagnosis on the laboratory logbook. Stool specimens were examined using direct saline wet mount methods. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20 software, and P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Moreover, chi-square was used to assess the association of different variables. Result. During the study period, a total of 6244 stool samples were requested for intestinal parasite diagnosis and it was found that 2850 specimens were positive for intestinal parasites, representing an overall prevalence of 45.6% with a fluctuating trend. Ten different parasites were reported with Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (20.3%) and Giardia lamblia (8.2%), the most frequently detected intestinal parasites. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was higher in males (35.4%) than females (10.2%) ( P = 0.02 ). Conclusions. Intestinal parasitic infection was highly prevalent, and there were fluctuations in the prevalence of intestinal parasites from 2014 to 2018. Environmental sanitation improvement and health education schemes at the University of Gondar can be considered quite indispensable for the prevention and control of parasitic infections in the area.
Background. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), which is one form of leishmaniasis, may show variations over years across regions, and epidemiological studies are crucial to estimate the cases of the disease status over a long time. This study is aimed at determining the trend of CL among patients at the University of Gondar Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center, northwest Ethiopia between 2009 and 2018 years. Methods. A ten-year data were extracted retrospectively. We included all patients who were visiting the center for CL diagnosis during the last ten years. Giemsa-stained skin slit microscopy was used to diagnose the disease. A chi-square test was used to compare the proportions of patients infected across years, seasons, months, sex, and age groups. Result. During the 10 years, a total of 1079 samples were requested for the diagnosis of CL. The cumulative average annual prevalence was found to be 55.4% (598/1079). The highest and lowest proportions of CL cases were recorded in 2014 (69.5%) and 2018 (35.4%), respectively. However, the percentage of CL cases did not show any significant differences over the study period. The number of suspected patients was significantly increased over the years (being lowest in 2009 and highest in 2017). The proportion of CL cases showed a remarkable difference across months but not seasons. CL was the highest within 15-49 years of age and males. Conclusion. The prevalence of CL did not show any significant differences over the last ten years. However, a remarkable increase of CL suspected cases was observed across the years. The disease showed significant association with age, sex, and months, but not seasons.
Background. In Ethiopia, despite various public health intervention approaches have been implemented to eliminate malaria, its public health problem remains considerable. There are such numerous studies; however, investigating the trend of malaria infection in various settings is paramount for area-specific evidence-based interventions, evaluating ongoing malaria control programs. Hence, since the trend of malaria infection in Maksegnit has not yet been documented, this study is aimed at assessing the seven-year trend of malaria in Maksegnit Health Center. Methods. An institutional-based retrospective study was conducted to assess the trend of malaria prevalence over the last seven years (2014-2020) using recorded blood smear reports in the laboratory logbook in Maksegnit Health Center, Northwest Ethiopia. Result. Over the last seven years, a total of 28217 clinically malaria-suspected individuals were requested for blood film examination at Maksegnit Health Center. Of whom, microscopically confirmed malaria case was found in 4641/28217 (16.4%). A significant seasonal and interannual variation of malaria cases was observed ( P < 0.001 ). The highest prevalence was observed in years 2014 (25.5%) and 2020 (25.1%), while the minimum annual prevalence was seen in 2017/18 (6.4%). The month of October (25.5%) had the highest number of malaria cases documented, while February had the least (4.7%). Males and individuals under the age group of 15-45 were the most affected segments of the population. A significant interannual fluctuating prevalence of malaria cases was recorded ranging from 25.5% to 6.4% ( P < 0.001 ). Conclusion. Malaria is still a public health threat in the study area despite significant fluctuating patterns of malaria was observed in the last seven years. In particular, a bounced back trend of malaria from 2018 to 2020 is alarming. Thus, the implementation of ongoing intervention approaches should be reconsidered, and uninterrupted efforts of the concerned bodies are still needed.
Background. Malaria is one of the most public health important and life-threatening parasitic infections caused by the protozoan parasite. Since children are immunologically naive to the malaria parasite, they are the main vulnerable groups. During malaria infection, they might have a complication of anemia, cerebral malaria, coma, respiratory distress, and a decrease in cognitive and behavioral improvement. Therefore, this review was aimed at determining the pooled prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia. Methods. The current systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted based on the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement guideline. Electronic bibliographic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct were used for searching relevant literature. Besides, the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) was used for critical appraisal of studies. Using the STATA 14 software, the pooled Meta logistic regression was computed to present the pooled prevalence with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Result. The overall estimated pooled prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia was 9.07 (95% CI: 6.32, 11.82). Subgroup analysis based on malaria signs and symptoms showed that the pooled prevalence of malaria among asymptomatic and symptomatic children was 6.67% (95% CI: 0.36, 12.98) and 27.17% (95% CI: 18.59, 35.76), respectively. Conclusion. The findings revealed a high prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia. As a result, still there is a need of improving and rechecking the existing malaria prevention and control measures of the country.
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