Background: Relapse is one of the difficulties in managing severe acute malnutrition in children under the age of five. The evidence on post-discharge outcomes following initial recovery from severe acute malnutrition is still limited. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude of relapse after cure for severe acute malnutrition from the Outpatient Treatment Program and associated factors in children aged 6-59 months in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 223 children aged 6 to 59 months after discharge from an outpatient treatment program and stabilization center for severe acute malnutrition in the past one year. Primary data collected from mothers/caregivers in the Kurfa Chelle district were identified through health management information system reports and outpatient or stabilization center registration. The children's anthropometric, socioeconomic, and feeding practices were collected and analyzed, the data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14.2. The Adjusted Odds Ratio was calculated to identify associated factors, and a p-value of 0.05 at the 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of 223 study participants according to this study, 11.36% of children recovered and relapsed in the previous year, 95% CI: (4.50%, 29.06%). Presences of Edema on admission (OR=10.02; 95% CI: 10.02 (1.6 - 15), drinking water from a spring source (OR=15.9; CI (2.2 - 18.3), and children living in food insecure households (OR=1.85; 95% CI (1.23, 2.80) were identified as risk factors for relapse after cure from severe acute malnutrition. Conclusion: Within three months of discharge, the magnitude of relapse after cure for severe acute malnutrition is 11.36%. As a result, community-based screening and therapeutic interventions should be strengthened in order to closely monitor the household care for children discharged from the health facility after being cured of SAM, with special attention paid to children from food insecure households and using unprotected sources.

Background Louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) remains a cause of sporadic illness and occasional outbreaks in Ethiopia and other east African countries in overcrowded and unhygienic settings. In this article, we present clinical profiles and treatment outcome of patients treated as confirmed or probable cases of LBRF at Jimma Medical Center (JMC) in southwest Ethiopia. Methods Patients treated as confirmed or probable cases of LBRF at JMC during a period of May–July 2022 were prospectively followed during their course of hospital stay. All patients were evaluated with blood film for hemoparasites, complete blood count, and liver enzymes on hospital presentation. They were followed with daily clinical evaluation during their hospital stay. Result Thirty-six patients were treated as cases of LBRF. All patients except one were from Jimma Main Prison in Jimma Town, Ethiopia. All the patients were male with mean age of 28.7 years (SD = 12.7). The diagnosis of LBRF was confirmed by detection of B. recurrentis in blood film of 14 (38.9%) of the patients; the rest were treated as presumptive case of LBRF. Fever, reported by all patients, and an acute onset epistaxis, 30 (83.3%), were the major reasons for healthcare visits. Twenty-two (61.1%) patients were having thrombocytopenia with a platelet count < 150,000/μL; nine (25%) of which had severe forms (<50,000/μL). All patients were treated with oral doxycycline and discharged with improvement after a mean length of hospital stay of 4.25 days (SD = 0.77), range 2–6 days. Public health emergency was activated within two days of the first cases and helped in delousing all the cases and their contacts. Conclusion LBRF remains a public health problem in Ethiopia in settings with poor personal hygiene. Patients with LBRF may present with severe thrombocytopenia and life-threatening bleeding. Early detection and treatment initiation prevents outbreak propagation and improves treatment outcome.

BackgroundThere is improved access to Sever Acute Malnutrition management in Ethiopia; however, studies have revealed an alarming rate of defaulters’ poor recovery and deaths, emphasizing the importance of researching to identify major causes. As a result, the goal of this research is to identify treatment outcome determinants and associated factors in severely malnourished children aged 6–59 months admitted to public hospitals in Eastern Ethiopia’s stabilization centers.MethodsThis study used an institutional-based retrospective cohort study design with 712 children aged 6 to 59 months. Data was gathered using a Sever Acute Malnutrition registration logbook and patient charts. Participants were chosen at random from their respective healthcare facilities based on population proportion. Epi-data was entered and analyzed using STATA version 14. To identify associated factors, the Cox proportional hazard Ratio was calculated, and a p-value of 0.05 at the 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant.ResultsThis study revealed that only 70.65% (95% CI = 67.19, 73.88) of the children were cured while 17.84% defaulted from the management and 5.90% died. Children who did not have tuberculosis (AHR = 1.58, 95%CI:1.04, 2.40), anemia (AHR = 1.31, 95% CI:1.03, 1.68), Kwash dermatosis (AHR = 1.41, 95%CI:1.04, 1.91), or on NG-tube (AHR = 1.71, 95%CI:1.41, 2.08) were more likely to be cured from SAM.ConclusionThis study discovered that the cure rate is extremely low and the defaulter rate is extremely high. As a result, intervention modalities that address the identified factor are strongly recommended to accelerate the rate of recovery in Eastern Ethiopia.

Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common causes of mortality and morbidity among diabetic patients. Aspirin is recommended for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetics who are eligible for therapy based on active international guidelines. However, these active guidelines are underutilized. Hence, this article helps to assess low dose aspirin use and its associated factors in patients with diabetes mellitus on follow-up at the diabetes clinic of Jimma Medical Center (JMC). Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among 388 diabetic patients on follow-up at the diabetic clinic of JMC during October 1, 2020 to November 15, 2020. The collected data were cleaned and entered into EpiData version 4.6 then exported to STATA version 16.0 for analysis. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression was employed to identify the relationship between dependent and independent variables with declaring statistical significance if P value is less than 0.05. Result Out of the total 388 diabetic patients interviewed, Most of the patients were in the age group of 50-54 (35.8%) with the mean age of 48.8 [48.2, 51.4] years old. About half (48.7%) of them had a history of hypertension. Nearly double of the study participants (47.2%) were utilizing a low dose aspirin. Aspirin was indicated for 80 (20.6%) of the patients despite 21 (26.2%) of them were not using it. It was both indicated and prescribed in 59 (15.2%) of the cases. Older age, longer duration of DM, dyslipidemia, and hypertension were associated with more likely utilization of low dose aspirin. Conclusion About half of the DM patients were utilizing low dose aspirin, while only one fifth of them were having indications to do so. Furthermore, one fourth of the patients were not taking low dose aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular events despite they were supposed to use it. Therefore, these findings suggest a greater need for physicians to carefully assess the indications to prescribe aspirin with a clear explanation of the it’s advantages in these specific patient population. Ultimately, future studies should examine the influence of updating guidelines on clinician behaviors to avoid irrational use of aspirin and the association of changing trends in preventive aspirin use with the development of CVD in patients with DM.

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