Purpose To assess the pattern, presentation and risk factors of ocular trauma among patients treated at Hawassa University, Referral Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, South Ethiopia, 2014 Methods The medical records of all patients treated for ocular trauma at Hawassa University, Referral Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, during the period January 01, 2012 to July 31, 2014, were retrospectively reviewed. Trained optometrists, ophthalmic nurses and ophthalmic officer collected the data using a pretested data abstraction form. The descriptive and analytic statistics was carried out. Results A total of 773 patients (549 males and 224 females) were included in the study. Closed globe injury was more common in males (P = 0.019) and open globe injury was significantly common in children (P < 0.001). Corneal tear was the most frequently observed finding (39.33%). Surgery, secondary to trauma, was common in open globe injury (P < 0.001). About 98% of the patients presented after 6 hours post trauma. Among 84.61% patients whose visual acuity (VA) was recorded at presentation, 12.23% had VA of 6/6 and 65.90% had VA of <3/60. Conclusion Ocular trauma was more common in males and children. Majority of patients (98%) presented after 6 hours post trauma. Cornea was the most commonly affected ocular structure by trauma.

Objective To assess the strabismus prevalence and associated factors among children aged ≤15 years. Methods This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2017 to October 2017 in the Department of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect relevant data and clinical examinations were performed for patient diagnosis. Results Overall, 582 children participated in the study (response rate, 97%). The prevalence of childhood strabismus was 17.9% [95% confidence interval: 14.6–21.1]. Additionally, 9.6%, 16.7%, and 9.6% of the children had anisometropia, amblyopia, and dense cataract, respectively. Among the 16.7% of children with amblyopia, 56.7% had strabismus; among the 22.5% of children with clinically significant refractive error, 52.7% had strabismus. Moreover, among the 9.6% of children with anisometropia, 58.9% had strabismus. The presence of amblyopia (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 3.9, 1.7–8.6), age <5 years (13.5 [5.0–36.1]), age 5 to 10 years (6.1 [2.3–16.3]), and clinically significant refractive error (13.3 [5.8–30.6]) were significantly associated with childhood strabismus. Conclusions The prevalence of strabismus was relatively high among patients in this study. Early screening for childhood strabismus is essential. A well-controlled community-based study is needed to confirm strabismus prevalence and predictors.

Background: Ocular trauma is a significant public health problem which may lead to permanent visual impairment. Being preventable, the visual impairment can occur at any age in either sex and has significant socioeconomic burden especially in developing countries. Objective: To assess the pattern, presentation and risk factors of ocular trauma in patients treated at Hawassa University, Referral Hospital, South Ethiopia Methods: The study was conducted from August 01, 2014 to July 31, 2015, and all patients who visited Hawassa University, Referral Hospital for ocular trauma were included in the study. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and the descriptive and analytic statistics were carried out. Results: A total of 335 patients were included into the study. Ocular trauma was observed mostly in children (65.67%) and rural dwellers (76.12%). Assault trauma and surgery, secondary to trauma, were associated with open globe injury (P = 0.021, AOR = 43.17 and P = 0.006, AOR = 25.67, respectively). The corneal tear was the most frequently observed finding (59.70%). Most of the patients (>90%) presented after 6 hours from time of ocular trauma and the treatment was commenced also after 6 hours in >95% of them. Among all patients included in the study, 59.71% of them were with visual acuity of <3/60 at presentation. Conclusion: Ocular trauma was high in males, children, rural dwellers and low income families and most of the patients (>90%) presented after 6 hours from time of ocular trauma.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the widely distributed arboviruses in the world, and it is a pathogen of both humans and animals. The evidence that supports the prevalence of the WNV infection in Ethiopia is very scarce. Hence, this study aimed to assess the seropositivity of WNV among patients with acute febrile illness. Methods: This health institution-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 532 acute febrile patients from May to August 2016 in Arba Minch Zuria district selected public health facilities, Southern Ethiopia. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and clinical related information of the participants through convenient sampling techniques. In addition, trained nurses who were working in the health centers were responsible for interviewing acute febrile patients. About 5 mL of venous blood was collected aseptically from each of the study participants for the screening of the WNV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence technique (IIFT) as per manufacturer's protocol. Data analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 software and the results were presented by frequency and percentage using tables. Results: A total number of 529 acute febrile patients (42.7% males and 57.3% females) were enrolled in the study with a response rate of 99.4%. The overall 7.4% of acute febrile patients were seropositive for WNV-specific IgG and the rate was higher in males (9.7%) when compared to females (5.6%). While the overall 4.5% were seropositive for WNVspecific IgM and the rate was 6.6% in males and 3.0% in females. Conclusion:The finding of this study is an important alarm for clinicians/physicians to diagnose febrile patients in the divergent direction including with the diagnosis of flaviviruses. In addition, the finding will further contribute to understanding the epidemiology of WNV fever in Ethiopia and it will play a role in the delivery of public health measures to decrease the risk of WNV exposure in the areas.