Background Vaccines are a powerful choice to stop disease outbreaks, including covid-19. However, people are hesitant to take vaccinations due to uncertainty about side effects. So, this study aimed to assess covid-19 vaccine side-effect and its associated factors among healthcare workers in Dessie comprehensive specialized hospital, in Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Dessie Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital among 351 vaccinated healthcare workers from April 25 to May 25, 2021. Self-administrated questionnaires were used by consented health workers. Variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to assess the multicollinearity of independent variables. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to identify significant factors of vaccine side effects. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported as the effect size. Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05. Results Overall, of vaccinated healthcare workers, 56.98% (95% CI, 50.86–61.26%) experienced at least one side effect. The majority of the side effects were fever (44.44%), headache (39.03%), fatigue (27.35%), injection site pain (25.93%), and nausea (24.22%). Healthcare workers with (≥10 years) of work experience (AOR: 3.74, 95% CI, 1.32–10.59), Hesitancy to take the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine (AOR: 3.01, 95% CI, 1.82–4.99), underlying chronic disease (AOR: 14.41, 95% CI, (5.07–40.92)), being on antihypertensive medication (AOR: 0.15; 95% CI (0.02–0.93)), and unsafe perception of vaccine safety (AOR:3.50; 95% CI, 1.43–8.57) were independent factors of Covax vaccine side effect development. Conclusion Overall, common vaccine side effects were identified in healthcare workers who have taken the Covax vaccine. Healthcare workers with (≥10 years) of work experience, Hesitancy to take the first dose, unsafe perception of vaccine safety, and underlined chronic disease were predictors of vaccine side effect occurrence. So, providing vaccine-related information to the community to be vaccinated is mandatory to reduce hesitancy and flaws regarding vaccine safety.

Background: Assessment of supportive care needs for cancer patients and identifying factors affecting these needs is important for the implementation of supportive care programmes, as the burden of cancer is increasing in Ethiopia.

Objective Exclusive breast feeding (EBF) has been practiced all over the world as the best way of cost effective feeding practice, particularly in the developing countries. This practice is associated with a lower risk of human immunodeficiency virus transmission than mixed feeding. ‘Studies focusing on determinants of EBF among women living with HIV are limited. Hence, the current study is aimed at identifying those determinants. Result This study showed that being employed (AOR = 4.363, 95% CI 2.324 to 8.191), home delivery (AOR = 0.029, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.235) and secondary education (AOR = 10.351, 95% CI 1.297 to 82.628) are significantly associated with non-EBF. In this study none EBF practice was significantly associated with women who are employed, delivered at home and educational status.

Background Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) is one of the health care priorities to assess and follow the growth pattern of children under 2 years old. Appropriate GMP services enable health care workers to control growth faltering early and child mortality. However, there is limited information showing the practice and associated factors of GMP service among health care workers in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the practice and identify associated factors of GMP service among health care workers at public health facilities of the South Wollo Zone, northeast Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 397 randomly selected health care workers in the South Wollo Zone, northeast Ethiopia, from May 25 to July 7, 2020. A pretested self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Quantitative data were entered using Epi data Version 3.1 and exported to statistical software for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software for further analysis. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with GMP practice. Statistical tests at a P value < 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval were taken as a cutoff point to determine the statistical significance. Qualitative data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. Results In this study, the proportion of GMP practice among health care workers was 58.4% (95% CI: 54.0–63.0). Being a holder of first degree (AOR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.01, 5.05), being a holder of a diploma (AOR = 3.52; 95% CI: 2.04, 6.09), work experience with GMP (AOR = 3.13; 95% CI: 1.58, 6.20), receiving GMP training (AOR = 4.83; 95% CI: 2.89, 8.06), availability of GMP equipment (AOR = 2.75; 95% CI: 1.64, 4.58) and having a positive attitude toward GMP (AOR = 3.70; 95% CI: 2.23, 6.17) were factors significantly associated with GMP practice. Conclusions and recommendations The proportion of GMP practice among health care workers was still low. Educational level, work experience with GMP, GMP training, GMP equipment and attitude toward GMP were positively associated with GMP practice. Availability of GMP equipment brings positive attitudes toward GMP, and GMP training for health care workers with less experience should be strengthened to improve GMP practice.

Drugs given to pregnant mothers for therapeutic purposes may cause serious structural and functional adverse effects in the developing child. However, the fact that drugs are needed to mitigate complications during pregnancy cannot be totally avoided. Hence, the current study is aimed to evaluate the pattern of medication prescribing practice during pregnancy at Hidar 11 General Hospital, Ethiopia. Institution based cross sectional study was conducted on 310 pregnant women whose medical charts were selected using systematic random sampling from antenatal care (ANC) attendants at Hidar 11 General Hospital. Data was collected through medical chart review by using data abstraction tool and analyzed by statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) Version 24 software. Among the study participants, 263 (84.8%) had a prescription at least for one drug during their pregnancy. Majority of the drugs prescribed for the pregnant women were vitamins and minerals (60.6%), antibacterial agents (30.6%) and central nervous system drugs (28.4%). A high proportion of drugs were prescribed from US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) category C (57.7%) followed by category B (50.6%) and category A (22.9%). Only 6.8% of the prescribed drugs were with positive evidence of risk (US FDA category D) during all trimesters and no drugs were prescribed from proven fetal risk category (US FDA X category). Even though, drugs from category X were not prescribed, a significant number of pregnant women consumed drugs with potential fetal risk that should be addressed by informing the prescribers to stick to the treatment guidelines and seek safer options.