Background The burden of communicable diseases within developing countries is mainly influenced by poor personal hygiene practices. Hand washing is considered as most cost effective intervention for reducing health problems such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory tract infections. This study aimed to assess hand washing practice at critical times and identify associated factors among mothers of under five children in Debark town. Method A community based cross-sectional study design was carried out from May 1–20, 2018 in Debark town. After selection of participants using simple random sampling, face to face interview was performed by using semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire. Data were entered into EPI Info 7 and exported into SPSS 21 for further analysis. Results were presented by simple frequency, percentage and mean for descriptive variables. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to test the association of dependent and independent factors. Variables with 95% confidence interval and p ≤ 0.2 during the univariable binary logistic regression analysis were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. At the final model variables with p ≤ 0.05 were treated as significantly associated factors of hand washing practice at critical times. Results Good hand washing practice at critical times was reported in 52.2% (95% CI: 47.5, 57.2%) of study participants. Desirable attitude [AOR = 3.37, 95% CI (2.03, 5.58)], presence of water for washing hands [AOR = 4.86, 95% CI (1.26, 18.69)] and a good knowledge [AOR = 2.98, 95% CI (1.92, 4.60)] were significantly associated factors with hand washing practice at critical times. Conclusion The hand washing practice at critical times of study participants was found to be low. A significant proportion of mothers of under five children have a poor hand washing practice at critical times. It is necessary to increase the access to water and to improve knowledge and attitude of mothers to improve their hand washing practice at critical times.

BackgroundPoor indoor air quality is a great problem in schools due to a high number of students per classroom, insufficient outside air supply, poor construction and maintenance of school buildings. Bacteria in the indoor air environment pose a serious health problem. Determination of bacterial load in the indoor environment is necessary to estimate the health hazard and to create standards for indoor air quality control. This is especially important in such densely populated facilities like schools.MethodsInstitutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 51 randomly selected classrooms of eight public primary schools from March 29–April 26, 2018. To determine the bacterial load passive air sampling settle plate method was used by exposing a Petri dish of blood agar media for an hour. The Pearson correlation matrix was employed to assess the correlation between bacterial load and physical parameters.ResultsThe grand total mean bacterial load was 2826.35 CFU/m3 in the morning and 4514.63 CFU/m3 in the afternoon. The lowest and highest mean bacterial load was recorded at school 3 (450.67 CFU/m3) and school 5 (7740.57 CFU/m3) in the morning and afternoon, respectively. In the morning relative humidity (r = − 0.7034), PM2.5 (r = 0.5723) and PM10 (r = 0.6856); in the afternoon temperature (r = 0.3838), relative humidity (r = − 0.4014) were correlated with indoor bacterial load. Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species and Bacillus species were among isolated bacteria.ConclusionsHigh bacterial load was found in public primary schools in the Gondar city as compared to different indoor air biological standards. Temperature, relative humidity and particulate matter concentration (PM2.5 and PM10) were associated with the indoor bacterial load. Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species and Bacillus species were among isolated bacterial species. Attention should be given to control those physical factors which favour the growth and multiplication of bacteria in the indoor environment of classrooms to safeguard the health of students and teachers in school.

Background: Poor indoor air quality is a great problem in schools due to a high number of students per classroom, insufficient outside air supply, poor construction and maintenance of school buildings. Bacteria in the indoor air environment pose a serious health problem. Determination of bacterial load in the indoor environment is necessary to estimate the health hazard and to create standards for indoor air quality control. This is especially important in such densely populated facilities like schools. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 51 randomly selected classrooms of eight public primary schools from March 29–April 26, 2018. To determine the bacterial load passive air sampling settle plate method was used by exposing a Petri dish of blood agar media for an hour. The Pearson correlation matrix was employed to assess the correlation between bacterial load and physical parameters. Results: The grand total mean bacterial load was 2826.35 CFU/m3 in the morning and 4514.63 CFU/m3 in the afternoon. The lowest and highest mean bacterial load was recorded at school 3 (450.67 CFU/m3) and school 5 (7740.57 CFU/m3) in the morning and afternoon, respectively. In the morning relative humidity (r = −0.7034), PM2.5 (r = 0.5723) and PM10 (r = 0.6856); in the afternoon temperature (r = 0.3838), relative humidity (r = − 0.4014) were correlated with indoor bacterial load. Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species and Bacillus species were among isolated bacteria. Conclusions: High bacterial load was found in public primary schools in the Gondar city as compared to different indoor air biological standards. Temperature, relative humidity and particulate matter concentration (PM2.5 and PM10) were associated with the indoor bacterial load. Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species and Bacillus species were among isolated bacterial species. Attention should be given to control those physical factors which favour the growth and multiplication of bacteria in the indoor environment of classrooms to safeguard the health of students and teachers in school.

Background: Children’s feces are 5 times more dangerous than that of adults. Unhygienic disposal of child feces has been reported as one of the major sanitation problems in Sub-Saharan African countries. However, there is a scanty of information in the study area and evidences are insufficient in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study intends to assess child feces disposal practices and associated factors among Mothers/Caregivers of Under Five Children in West Armachiho District, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the West Armachho district from March 10, 2019 to April 10, 2019 by using a multistage cluster sampling method. Binary and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to identify factors associated to child faces disposal practice. The adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval and a P-value of ⩽.05 were used to declare statistical significance. Result: The proportion of safe child feces disposal practice was 37.8% (95% CI: 34.6-40.89). Child feces disposal practice was significantly associated with the age of the child (AOR = 5.07, 95% CI: 2.52-10.21), the educational status of fathers (AOR = 2.34, 95% CI: 1.05–5.25), getting health education (AOR = 2.77, 95% CI: 1.84-4.16), utilization of basic type of latrine (AOR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.55-5.02), knowledge of feces disposal technology options (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.88-3.96), and media exposure about child feces (AOR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.22-2.99). Conclusion: The practice of safe CFD was low. Age of the child, fathers’ educational status, receiving health education, basic type of latrine, feces disposal technology options used, and media exposure were independent predictors of safe CFD practice. Interventions need to be designed targeting safe CFD practices taking into account different media outlets and advocacy of improved sanitation technology use by policy makers.