Introduction The new coronavirus disease 2019 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by the highly contagious novel coronavirus which has currently overwhelmed the world. Realizing a comprehensive set of infection prevention measures is a key to minimize the spread of this virus and its impacts in all healthcare settings. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the compliance towards COVID-19 preventive measures and associated factors among health professionals in selected public hospitals, southeast Ethiopia. Methods A descriptive hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 660 health professionals in public hospitals of southeast Ethiopia from October 1 to 31, 2020. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected by interview using structured and pretested questionnaires. Ordinary logistic regression modeling was used to estimate the crude and adjusted odds ratio. To declare the statistical significance of factors associated with the outcome variable, P-value < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval were used. Results A total of 654 health professionals were involved in the study; of whom, 313 participants were nurses. The overall good compliance and knowledge of health professionals regarding COVID-19 preventive measures were 21.6 and 25.5%, respectively. Working in the general hospital (AOR = 0.55; 95% CI 0.38, 0.79), service year (AOR = 2.10; 95% CI 1.35, 3.21), knowledge (AOR = 1.80; 95% CI 1.14, 2.89), and water availability (AOR = 3.26; 95% CI 2.25, 4.72) were some of the factors found to have a statistically significant association to compliance of health professionals regarding COVID-19 preventive measures. Conclusion In this study, nearly one fifth of health professionals had good compliance towards COVID-19 prevention practices. Thus, a consistent supply of COVID-19 prevention materials, facilities, and improving the knowledge of health professionals through on and off-job training are crucial.

Background: Ethiopia is one of the countries where the healthcare system is not yet developed to the required level; hence, it is not uncommon that drugs, particularly antimicrobials, are inappropriately used for infections by any causative agents, with or without prescription, in combination or not, and, of more concern, without sensitivity tests. So, it was considered important to assess the magnitude of inappropriate antimicrobial use among inpatients attending Madda Walabu University Goba Referral Hospital, southeast Ethiopia. Methods: A health institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2018 to April 2019. Patient folders from collaborating wards were reviewed for antibiotic use. Inappropriateness of a drug or its dosage, or both, was considered in reference to the Ethiopian national treatment guideline. The information obtained was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Patterns of prescription of antimicrobials for the hospitalized patients were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 801 antibiotics were written as prescriptions to 471 clients, 228 (47.6%) of whom had received two or more antibiotics at the time of the study. Of the total prescribed antibiotics, 142 (30.1%) had an inappropriate prescription. Genitourinary tract infections accounted for 42 (30.4%) of the inappropriate prescriptions due to the wrong dose and drugs. Cephalosporins were the most extensively prescribed class of antibiotics, 24.4% of which were inappropriately prescribed. Intravenous formulations made up the largest proportion of prescriptions, at 335 (41.8%). The most commonly prescribed antimicrobials were cephalosporins, 178 (38%); nitroimidazoles, 115 (24.5%); and macrolides, 53 (11.3%), while ceftriaxone was prescribed in 249 (53%) and metronidazole in 123 (26.2%) cases. Conclusion: Low dose, inadequate duration and empiric use of antibiotics were major causes of inappropriate use in the study area. Therefore, local antimicrobial sensitivity tests, antibiotic stewardship and following the national treatment guideline are recommended to overcome inappropriate antimicrobial use.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019, also known as 2019-nCoV cluster of acute respiratory illness with unknown causes, which occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China, was first reported to World Health Organization country office as of December 30, 2019. People with medical illness are at a higher risk for coronavirus disease, and the pandemic influences mental health and causes psychological problems, particularly in those with chronic medical illness. Hence, this study aimed to assess coronavirus disease 2019-related anxiety and the knowledge on its preventive measures among patients with medical illness on follow-up in public hospitals of Bale, East Bale, and Arsi zones Objective: To assess coronavirus disease 2019-related anxiety and knowledge toward coronavirus disease 2019 preventive measures among patients with chronic medical illness on follow-up in public hospitals of Bale, East Bale, and West Arsi zones. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in selected hospitals of Bale and West Arsi zones, Southeast Ethiopia. A total of 633 study participants were included in this study, and data were collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. A descriptive summary was computed. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify the associated factors. Results: Overall, the prevalence of anxiety among chronic patients in this study was 6.3% (95% confidence interval: 4.6%–8.5%) and 420 (66.35%) had good knowledge on the preventive measures of coronavirus disease 2019. Factors significantly associated with anxiety among chronic patients were being educated (95% confidence interval: adjusted odds ratio = 0.26 (0.09–0.74)), being male (95% confidence interval: 2.69 (1.11–6.53)), and use of mask (95% confidence interval: 0.11 (0.05–0.26)). Conclusion: The prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019-related anxiety among chronic patients was high and being males, uneducated, and not using face mask was significantly associated with coronavirus disease 2019-related anxiety.

Background. Emerging of multidrug-resistant bacteria can compromise the effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat skin infections. Those bacteria imposed public health problems and questioning medical care in the 21st century. In this circumstance, essential oils of medicinal plants origin are supreme sources of structural and functionally divergent compounds, which inhibited the growth of common wound colonizing MRSA and ESBL producing P. aeruginosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined antibacterial activity of essential oils extracted from Rumex abyssinicus, Cucumis pustulatus, and Discopodium penninervium against multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates of skin ulcers. Methods. Essential oils (EOs) were extracted from aerial parts of R. abyssinicus, C. pustulatus, and D. penninervium with steam distillation. A mixture of each oil (1 : 1) was adsorbed to a disc and placed on Mueller Hinton Agar. Then, minimum zone of inhibition and bactericidal concentration of EOs was measured after incubeted for 18–24 hours at 37 °C. Their combined antibacterial effect was determined by the fractional inhibitory concentration index. Results. The antibacterial activity of mixed oil varied in their doses and bacteria species, of which a mixture of essential oil of R. abyssinicus and D. penninervium had inhibition zone (32 mm); its MIC and MBC values range from 1-2 μl/ml against MRSA. It had an inhibition zone (36 mm), MIC value 4 μl/ml, and MBC (8 μl/ml) against ESBL producing P. aeruginosa, whereas combined effects of R. abyssinicus and C. pustulatus had MIC values ranging from 2–8 μl/ml for E. coli and K. pneumoniae and 2 μl/ml for MRSA. There was a strong synergistic effect between R. abyssinicus and D. penninervium and promising antibacterial effect more specifically on MRSA and P. aeruginosa. Conclusion. This in vitro study of the combined effect of EOs has significant antibacterial activity on wound colonizing bacteria and reduces delaying wound healing as that of modern drugs tested in parallel. Hence, further structural elucidation of active compounds helps us to properly design or synthesis of topical antibiotics for wound care.

Background: While the research findings confirm the existence of private drug retail outlets that do not comply with regulatory standards in many low-income countries, there are a lack of reports that evaluate the quality of medicines obtained from these firms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the regulatory compliance of the retails and associated quality of amoxicillin in Southwestern Ethiopia. Methodology: Forty-two drug retail outlets in Jimma town were evaluated using an inspection checklist developed by the Ethiopian regulatory authority, and dispensers from these retail outlets were interviewed using the pretested structured questionnaire. The drug outlets were coded and categorized into noncompliant and compliant drug retail outlets. The physicochemical quality of amoxicillin capsules obtained from these retail outlets were evaluated following methods described in the US Pharmacopoeia. Results: The present study revealed that about 54.76% drug retail outlets were compliant with the regulatory standard. Factors like income of retail outlet, experience of dispenser, and training regarding good storage practice were associated with status of regulatory compliance (p-value <0.05). The identification, dissolution, and assay results indicated that all amoxicillin samples obtained from both noncompliant and compliant drug retail outlets complied with pharmacopoeial specification limit. Besides, the independent unequal variance t-test revealed that there is no significant difference between mean dissolution and assay of API of the amoxicillin samples obtained these drug retail outlets (p-value >0.05). Conclusion:The regulatory compliance of private drug retail outlets in Jimma town is not satisfactory. Moreover, the laboratory findings revealed that all samples of amoxicillin capsules compiled with pharmacopoeial specifications acceptance for packaging and labeling information, identification, assay, and dissolution. However, despite the fact that assays of the amoxicillin from retail outlets are within the required specification, the assays of amoxicillin obtained from noncompliant retail outlets appears to be slightly degraded, which may potentially demonstrate the impact of noncompliance of the drug retail outlets on the quality of medicines.