Objective. To assess the magnitude of intestinal parasitic infection and associated risk factors in Teda Health Centre, Northwest Ethiopia. Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Teda Health Centre from February to April, 2011. Stool samples were collected from 410 study participants and analysed by direct wet mount and formal ether concentration techniques. Furthermore, sociodemographic data were collected by using standardized questionnaire. Result. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in this study was 62.3%. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most predominant parasite (23.2%) followed by Giardia intestinalis (12.4%), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (4.6%), Schistosoma mansoni (8.9%), hookworm (6.6%), Hymenolepis nana (1.5%), Enterobius vermicularis (0.4%), and Strongyloides stercoralis (0.2%). Absence of toilet and hand washing after toilet was shown to be associated with intestinal parasitic infection (P < 0.05 for both). Furthermore, swimming and less shoe wearing habits showed a significant prevalence of S. mansoni and hookworm infections, respectively. Conclusion. The present study showed high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in the study area. Absence of toilet and hand washing after toilet was found to be associated with intestinal parasitic infection. Therefore, there is a need for integrated control programme to have a lasting impact on transmission of intestinal parasitic infection.

Background In Ethiopian, the prevalence of anemia among preschool aged children widely varied across regions. Since anemia adversely affects the cognitive and physical development of the children, it is important to determine its burden for implementing appropriate measurements. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the anemia prevalence and associated factors among preschool aged children. Method A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 432 preschool children in Menz Gera Midir district from January to May, 2017. A multi stage sampling procedure was applied to select the target groups. Hemocue analyzer for Haemoglobin determination; anthropometric measurements for assessment nutritional status, structured questionnaires for socio-demographic and economic variables were used for data collection. The morphological appearance of red blood cell was assessed microscopically to determine type of anemia. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the data and binary logistic regression was used for inferential statistics. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result The overall prevalence of anemia was 123 (28.5%); of which 38 (30.9%) and 85 (69.1%) were moderate and mild, respectively. Morphologically about 50.4, 37.4 and 12.2% were microcytic hypochromic, normocytic normochromic and macrocytic anemias, respectively. Child age 6-11 months (COR: 5.67, 95% CI: 2.2, 14.86), child age 12–23 months (COR: 5.8, 95% CI: 2.3, 14.7), wasting (COR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.2, 9.8), stunting (COR: 3.8, 95% CI: 1.92, 7.77), underweight (COR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.07, 4.38), MUAC measurement below 13 cm (COR: 5.6, 95% CI: 2.83, 11.15), household headed by female (COR: 3.24, 95% CI: 1.1, 9.63), maternal anemia (COR: 4, 95% CI: 2.2, 7.23) and household food insecurity (COR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.09, 4.12) were significantly associated with anemia. Conclusion The prevalence of anemia among the children was found to be high and associated with child age group, child nutritional status, house hold headed by female, maternal anemia and household food insecurity. Further studies on nutritional anemia, community based nutritional education, iron supplementation to children at risk should be promoted.

BackgroundVoluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is one among different approaches which have been implemented as an attempt to slow the spread of HIV infection and minimize its impact at the individual, family and society level. VCT is perceived to be an effective strategy in risk reduction among sexually active young people like tertiary level students. Ethiopia as a country with high burden of HIV started responding to the epidemic by preparing and updating guidelines on VCT. The objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for HIV among university students in North West Ethiopia.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted from February to May 2010 using a stratified sampling method to enroll students from different faculties into the study. A total of 330 university students filled in a self-administered questionnaire with response rate of 97.3%. Main outcome measures included level of knowledge, attitude and practice of VCT for HIV. A chi-square test was used to determine an association between a number of independent factors and dependant variables.ResultAbout 66.1% of the study participants were males with a mean age of 20 years. Majority (75.6%) of the respondents were Orthodox with 63% reported living in urban areas before joining the university. From the study participants 86.3% were knowledgeable on VCT, 73.3% had positive attitude towards VCT for HIV and 61.8% had had VCT for HIV in the past. Previous residence before joining the university, level of education, sex and religion were among the sociodemographic variables that showed statistically significant association with the one or more of the outcome variables. Fear of positive results, stigma and discrimination following the positive results were reported as main barriers for VCT uptake.ConclusionThe findings reveal important barriers for VCT uptake and suggest strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination.

BackgroundHematological reference values are important for the clinical decisions in laboratory diagnosis and monitoring of patients. The correct interpretation of laboratory results depends entirely on the reference intervals that have been established for the locality. But, in sub-Saharan African countries particularly in Ethiopia, locally derived reference intervals were not established and they are forced to use intervals established from western population. Thus this study aimed to establish locally derived hematological reference values that could be used in Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted from April to May 2014 with 120 male and 120 female apparently health adult blood donors at Gondar University Hospital. A structured pretested questionnaire was used for socio demographic and clinical data collection. About 4 ml of blood was collected with EDTA test tube and analyzed using Cell-Dyn 1800 to enumerate the hematological parameters. The data were collected and entered into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine reference intervals and Harris and Boyd test was used to determine the reference intervals that need partition. The 95th percentile of measurements was taken as a reference interval.ResultsMedian and 95th percentile of WBC for general population were lower than Caucasian population, Addis Ababa, Burkina Faso and Kenya of similar studies. The RBC, Hgb and PCV lower 95% limit values of both sex were lower than studies in Addis Ababa, Kenya, Burkina Faso and text book. While PCV upper limit values higher than the above countries. MCV values of the current study were higher than those countries while MCHC values were lower. Similarly, the absolute values of neutrophils in the current study were lower than Caucasian and Afro Caribbean but higher than African countries and Jamaica but lymphocyte count was higher.ConclusionsThe hematological reference intervals established in this study was different from those reported in other part of Ethiopia or African countries as well as Caucasian population. The RBC, PCV, Hgb and MCHC reference intervals were different in gender. Thus, using of locally determined reference range is advisable.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-016-2288-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Hematological abnormalities are common in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients, which is one of the major public health problems worldwide. However, there is paucity of information about the hematological profile of PTB patients with and without HIV in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess hematological abnormalities of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with and without HIV at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar Hospital. Sociodemographic data was collected using a pretested, structured questionnaire. Five milliliters of venous blood sample was collected and divided into a 3 ml EDTA tube for complete blood count with the Cell Dyn 1800 hematological analyzer and a 2 ml citrated tube for erythrocyte sedimentation rate determination. Data were entered into Epi Info version 3.5.3 and then transferred to SPSS 20 for analysis. The independent samples t-test was used to compare the mean values of hematological parameters between PTB patients and PTB-HIV coinfected patients. Result A total of 100 study subjects (50 PTB and 50 PTB-HIV coinfected) were included with a mean age of 31.3 ± 10.3 years for PTB patients and 32.1 ± 9.2 years for PTB-HIV coinfected patients. In this study, there were significantly lower mean values of Hgb (P = 0.049), platelet count (P < 0.001), and neutrophils counts (P = 0.007) among PTB-HIV coinfected patients when compared with PTB patients. Of the PTB infected patients 46% were anemic, 6% leukopenic, 22% neutropenic, 8% lymphopenic, and 8% thrombocytopenic. On the other hand, of the PTB-HIV coinfected patients 60% were anemic, 14% leukopenic, 66% neutropenic, 12% lymphopenic, and 20% thrombocytopenic. ESR value was increased in all patients. Conclusion This study demonstrated high prevalence of neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia among PTB-HIV coinfected patients. HIV coinfection worsens hematological abnormalities of PTB patients. Assessment of hematological parameters can be used as an indicator in the diagnosis and follow-up of PTB patients coinfected with HIV. We recommended assessment of PTB patients with or without HIV for various hematological disorders such as neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia.