BackgroundNon-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment can result in an emergence of new strains, prolonged infectiousness, drug resistance and poor treatment outcomes. Thus, assessment of the level of adherence to anti-TB treatment, treatment outcomes and identifying factors associated with non-adherence and poor treatment outcomes are vital for improving TB treatment adherence and treatment outcomes in the study area. The main objectives of the current study were to assess the level of adherence to anti-TB treatment among patients taking anti-TB drug treatment and to identify factors associated with non-adherence. Whereas, the secondary objectives were to assess treatment outcomes and factors associated with poor treatment outcomes among TB patients previously treated at the health institutions of Alamata District, northeast Ethiopia.MethodsIn a health facility-based cross-sectional study, TB patients who were taking anti-TB drug treatment were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to evaluate level of adherence to anti-TB treatment. TB treatment outcomes were evaluated using data generated from a record review of previous TB patients who were treated at health facilities of Alamata District from January 2007 to June 2012. Adherence data and treatment outcomes data were computerized separately using Epi-Data version 3.1 and analyzed using STATA version 10.0.ResultsBetween November 2012 and January 2013, 116 (58.0 %) male TB patients and 84 (42.0 %) female TB patients were interviewed, of whom 77.5 % were new cases, 23.5 % were smear-positive pulmonary TB (SPPTB) cases, 26.5 % were smear-negative PTB (SNPTB) cases and 50.0 % were extra pulmonary (EPTB) cases. The overall adherence rate to anti-TB treatment was 88.5 %. The main reasons for the non-adherent patients were forgetting to take medication, being away from home, drug side effects, being unable to go to the health facilities on the date of appointment and being hospitalized. In the TB treatment outcomes component of the current study, records of 4,275 TB patients were reviewed and the overall treatment success rate was 90.1 %. Two-hundred fifteen (5.0 %) patients had unsuccessful treatment outcomes, of whom 76 (35.3 %) defaulted, 126 (58.6 %) died and 13 (6.1 %) had treatment failure. Significant predictors of unsuccessful treatment outcomes were being positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.1, 95 % CI 1.5–3.0], being SPPTB case (aOR = 3.4, 95 % CI 2.4–4.8), being SNPTB case (aOR = 2.0, 95 % CI 1.5–2.8)], and being re-treatment cases (aOR = 2.6, 95 % CI 1.5–3.7).ConclusionIn the present study area, there was a high level of adherence to anti-TB treatment and also a high TB treatment success rate. However, still further effort like health education to patient or family is needed to reduce those factors which affect adherence and treatment success rates in order to ensure higher rates of adherence and treatment success than the currently observed in the present study area.

Background: Point-of-care diagnostic tests (POCTs) are increasingly used in both developing and developed countries. They allow same day testing and treatment at remote locations where no laboratory support is available.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) leftovers the leading cause of death among a curable infectious disease, regardless of the availability of short-course therapy that can be both inexpensive and effective. The aim of the present study was to assess the level of knowledge about TB in clients who were initiating anti-TB drug treatment in Alamata District, northeast Ethiopia.

vaccines has been a major barrier for other infectious agents including fungi, partly due to of our lack of knowledge about the mechanisms that underpin protective immunity.Fungal diseases are epidemiological hallmarks of distinct settings of at risk patients; not only in terms of their underlying condition but in the spectrum of diseases they develop [1,2]. Although fungi are responsible for pulmonary manifestations and cutaneous lesions in apparently immunocompetent individuals, their impact is most relevant in patients with severe immune compromised, in which they can cause severe, life-threatening forms of infection. As an increasing number of immunocompromised individuals resulting from intensive chemotherapy regimens, bone marrow or solid organ transplantation, and autoimmune diseases have been witnessed in the last decades, so has the incidence of fungal diseases [1,2]. Regardless of hundreds of thousands of fungal species, only a few cause disease in humans. The most common fungi that infect humans are Candida spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Cryptococcus neoformans, Pneumocystis jiroveci (carinii) and the thermally dimorphic fungi e.g. Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides posadasii, Penicillium marneffei and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis [3].Despite recent additions to our antifungal drug armamentarium, success rates for many mycoses remain unacceptably low and antifungal drug therapy is often limited by toxicity, resistance and high cost. To circumvent these difficulties, alternative approaches to prevention and treatment are being developed, including vaccines and passive immunotherapy.

Vector transmitted diseases remains a serious public health burden in the world. The current core methods used for malaria vector control interventions worldwide are indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticidal nets, with larval source management (LSM) applicable in certain settings where mosquito breeding sites are few, fixed and findable.Mosquitoes transmit many diseases including malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, yellow fever virus and filariasis. Of these, malaria transmitted primarily by An. gambiae, dengue transmitted by Aedes aegypti, and lymphatic filariasis transmitted by C. quinquifasciatus are the most devastating problems in terms of the global number of people affected. Insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying have been widely used as front-line tools against malaria vectors in endemic African regions. These preventive measures are highly effective against malaria vectors, which prefer to bite and rest inside the rooms. Some of the adulticide used for mosquito control include products derived from microorganisms, plants or minerals, synthetic molecules, organophosphates, some natural pyrethrins, or synthetic pyrethroids.

Background: In several countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB), direct sputum smear microscopy remains the most cost effective tool for diagnosing patients with infectious tuberculosis and for monitoring their progress on treatment. The objective of the current study was to assess the quality of laboratory service in AFB microscopy of Tigray Region. Randomly selected health facilities were participated in the external quality assessment. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Background: Infectious diseases have been major cause of morbidity and mortality all over the globe. The ability of bacterial pathogens to adapt and overcoming to treat by different antibiotics has been challenging in patient management. The antimicrobial resistance rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are known to fluctuate extensively in different settings. Active inspection of trends in antibiotic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is essential for the selection of suitable antimicrobial agent for empirical therapy. The objective of our systematic review was to determine the national antimicrobial resistance profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients with wound infection in Ethiopia. Methods: We searched the Pub Med database in July and August 2018. We used the term ‘antimicrobial resistance, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, wound and Ethiopia’ to find articles published from 2011 to 2018 September. Only articles in English language were included. Full-text articles were incorporated if they reported the percentage of antibiotic resistance among clinical isolates of pathogenic bacteria collected from patients in any of the regions of Ethiopia. For overlapping studies reporting on the same clinical isolates, same study period and place, only the study with the largest sample size was included.Results: From the 173 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates 99.5%, 95% of the isolates were resistant to ampicilin and Amoxicillin Clavulanic Acid respectively. From the isolates 28.8%, 29.7% and 39.6% of them were resistant to Gentamicine, ciprofloxacin and Ceftazidime respectively. Most of the isolates have limited susceptibility to ampicillin, Amoxicillin Clavulanic Acid, tetracycline, cotromoxazole, chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone.Conclusion: Antimicrobial resistance is likely to become a challenge in Ethiopia and may be exacerbated by overuse of antibiotics, the lack of oversight of antibiotic prescription, and the lack of relevant local data on antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, existing antimicrobial stewardship programmes should be strengthened or, where they are not yet in place, they should be developed and implemented in all regional referral hospitals in response to these challenges and Health research institutes. Antimicrobial surveillance also needs to be strengthened.