Background Four out of five individuals rely on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs. Medicinal plants are endowed with diverse bioactive compounds to treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes. So far, a less thorough examination has been made in this regard. This study aimed to evaluate antimicrobial activity and phytochemical screening of selected medicinal plants against MDR microbes. Methods In vitro experimental study was carried out to evaluate antimicrobial effects and phytochemical screening of Rumex abyssinicus, Cucumis pustulatus, Discopodium penninervium, Lippia adoensis, Euphorbia depauperata, Cirsium englerianum, and Polysphaeria aethiopica against MDR bacteria and fungi. Aqueous and 80% methanolic extraction methods were employed for extraction. The susceptibility test, minimum inhibitory concentration, and minimum bactericidal or fungicidal concentration were measured using disc diffusion or broth micro-dilution as per the CLSI protocols. Result The 80% methanolic extraction method was a preferred method to aqueous. The phytochemical constituents identified were alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, phenolic, tannins, terpenoidss, and cardiac glycosides. The hydroalcoholic extract demonstrated an appreciable antimicrobial role against MDR microbes with an MIC value of 1.0–128.0μg/ml and 11-29mm inhibition zone (IZ) in diameter. Extracts obtained from C. englerianum and E. depauperata showed a significant IZ ranged of 26-29mm on MRSA and Streptococcus pyogenes. MDR E. coli and K. pneumoniae showed 12-25mm and 23-28mm IZ in diameter, respectively. T. mentagraphytes was susceptible to all tested extracts. Moreover, S. pyogenes and K. pneumoniae were found the most susceptible bacteria to C. englerianum. Cirsium englerianum, L. adoensis, D. penninervium, and R. abyssinicus demonstrated remarkable antifungal effect against C. albicans and T. mentagrophytes, while R. abyssinicus showed the leading antifungal effect with 32 to 64μg/ml MIC values. Conclusion The plant extracts have shown appreciable antimicrobial activities comparable to the currently prescribed modern drugs tested. Accordingly, further studies on clinical efficacy trial, safety, toxicity and affordability analyses have to be instigated promptly, so as to head to the final step to synthesize precursor molecules for new effective antimicrobials.

Background Hypertension is a devastating global public health challenge; studies indicated that Ethiopia has been affected by the burden of hypertension especially in urban areas. The overall prevalence of hypertension in Ethiopia was estimated to be 19.6% (23.5% in urban and 14.7% in rural population). Along with medical management of hypertension, appropriate lifestyle modification is a crucial and inexpensive means of hypertension control. The main purpose of the study was therefore to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of lifestyle modification among patients on follow up for hypertension treatment at Yekatit 12 General Hospital. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study design was applied in Yekatit 12 General Hospital from October 28, 2018, to February 28, 2019, by allotting proportionate samples from the two chronic outpatients departments (OPD). Using single proportion sampling techniques, the study participants were selected and the total sample size calculated was 405. Primarily, clinical measurements were made according to the international standard set to verify true hypertensive patient’s inclusions. Then, data about socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle modification related to knowledge, attitude and practices were comprehensively collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. The collected data was entered into Epi-data exported to SPSS Window version of 22 for analysis. All variables with ρ-value less than 0.05 in the final model were considered as independently associated with knowledge, attitude and practices of patients’ lifestyle modification. The strength of association was described by Odds Ratio (OR) at the corresponding CI of 95%. Results The overall sampled hypertensive patients as compared to the planned sample size was 95.5% (n = 387), out of which 53.5% (n = 207) was male patients. The mean age was 50 years with a standard deviation of 14.4. The study revealed that 67.7% [95% CI (65.32%, 70.08%)] were knowledgeable; and 54.0% [95% CI (51.34%, 56.6%)] were reported to have favorable attitude towards lifestyle modification. Regarding their practices, 38% [95% CI (19.91%, 57.49%] of the respondents had good practices. Their monthly income [AOR = 2.39, 95% CI (1.12, 5.11)] and duration on-treatment follow up since diagnosed with hypertension [AOR = 4.39, 95% CI (1.20, 16.03)] were independently associated with knowledge. Concerning their damned practices, age [AOR = 7.71, 95% CI (2.4, 24.8)] and knowledge [AOR = 3.94, 95% CI (2.01, 7.72)] were independently associated with the practices. Conclusion Though the encouraging high knowledge status and favourable attitudes towards lifestyle modification among hypertensive patients, the practices are among the lowest findings report in all standards. Hence, older patients, jobless patients, and low-income patients and patients on long-term treatment follow up who were diagnosed with hypertension before 10 years needs special attention and interventions by the country NCDs policy formulators to rise their non-pharmacological practices to control high blood pressure and its consequences.

Background. The HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) epidemic enters its fifth decade amid a global pandemic. Nearly 61% of the people newly infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The virus is transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, labour, delivery, and breastfeeding, warranting routine counselling at antenatal care (ANC). Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and trend of HIV infection among pregnant women on ANC follow-up at Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH) in Ethiopia from November 2018 to 2021. Methods. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from June 25, 2021, to November 30, 2021. A total of 634 mothers were sampled by systematic random sampling, and the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics package of SPSS software. A chi-square test was employed to assess an association between variables. Analyses outputs were summarized and presented in tables and figures. Results. Among the sampled women (634), 96.1% received counselling services on the prevention of maternal-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Around 83.1% of the mothers refused to consult their partners and were unable to persuade their surrogate or afraid to discuss HIV serostatus tests. The overall prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant mothers was 7.1% and no significant decrease in the trends of HIV prevalence over the three years study period (p value >0.05). The seroprevalence is high in urban residents (4.4%) and age group of 25–29 years (38.9%) (p value <0.05). Residence, level of education attained, and marital status of women were significantly associated (p value <0.05) with seropositivity. Conclusion. HIV burden among ANC attendees in JUSH is high as compared to the national figure and its trend over three years is steady. Accordingly, mandatory early screening tests and community-based education are mandatory for all women and adolescent girls in the reproductive age group.

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) exists as a human curse since antiquity. Around 9.5 million cases and 1.5 million deaths were reported due to TB in 2021. Ethiopia is one of the high-burdenmultidrug-resistant (MDR) TB countries. MDR-TB is acquired either by poor adherence to treatment or by primary infection with a drug-resistant strain, which has a high transmission rate from patients to healthcare workers (HCWs). Hospital outbreaks of MDR-TB are common in Africa. Hence, this study aimed to score the attitude of HCWs working in the two nationally top-rankedTB-specialized hospitals in Ethiopia, Saint Peter’s and ALERT TB-specialized public hospitals about the infection prevention and control (IPC) of nosocomial MDR-TB. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. A simple random sampling method was applied to select 384 HCWs. The data collection tool was a self-administered interview structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were applied to score attitude. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were performed to identify the independent determinants of attitude. The odds ratio was used to test the degree of association between variables at a 95% confidence interval (CI). The level of statistical significance was fixed at p value < 0.05. Results. Among the respondents, 87% of the HCWs held favourable attitudes about the nosocomial MDR-TB-IPC. The favourable attitude score had a significant association with the monthly salary earned between 7001 and 9000 ETB (Ethiopian Birr) (AOR = 3.34, 95% CI: 1.11, 10.05) and the previous training obtained on TB/MDR-TB (AOR = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.32, 6.62). Conclusions. Almost one in seven HCWs has an unfavourable attitude. Prior training received and earning monthly income above 7000 ETB are independent determinants of a favourable attitude score. Refreshment training and a reasonable increment in monthly income should be strengthened in TB-specialized hospitals in Ethiopia.