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Papers by Mulatu Gashaw

˜The œPediatric infectious disease journal/˜The œpediatric infectious disease journal, Apr 24, 2024

Antibiotics, Apr 19, 2024

Research Square (Research Square), Sep 13, 2023

Under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and the lack of information about circulating SARS-CoV-2 varian... more Under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and the lack of information about circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants remain major challenges for many African countries to date. To address this, we present a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Ethiopia, focusing on reinfection dynamics, (variant-specific) immunity, and the impact of vaccination rates. We conducted an antibody serology study, sequenced positive polymerase chain reaction tests, used available test positivity rates, and constructed two mathematical models integrating these data sets. A multivariant model was used to explore the variant dynamics and differential susceptibility to reinfection based on genetic distances between variants, identifying wildtype, alpha, delta, and omicron BA.4/5 as the four most important variants in Ethiopia. Cross-immunity between variants is investigated, revealing immunities ranging from 24% to 69% risk reduction. A second, antibody-level focused model, predicts slow antibody decay, particularly for Anti-S antibodies, leading to sustained high antibody levels until present times. Retrospectively, it suggests that increased early vaccination could have substantially reduced infections during the delta and omicron waves. However, as a large proportion of the population might have already had multiple infections that led to a strong immune response, further vaccination is less likely to have a significant impact now.

Frontiers in microbiology, Jan 24, 2024

International Journal of Microbiology, Aug 24, 2020

Background. In most African countries including Ethiopia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections were d... more Background. In most African countries including Ethiopia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections were diagnosed clinically and its antibiotic susceptibility was rarely tested. is study aimed to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of N. gonorrhoeae among suspected patients attending private clinics in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods. Institution-based crosssectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of N. gonorrhoeae isolated from urogenital specimens. Urogenital samples were collected aseptically and then transported using Amie's transport media and processed in a microbiology laboratory following the standard protocol. Results. Of the total 315 samples examined, 31 (9.8%) were confirmed to have gonococcal infection. Of these, 30 (96.7%) were females. High proportion of culture confirmed cases (18 (12.5%)) were observed in the 20-24 age group. All of the identified organisms were susceptible to ceftriaxone and had high resistance to penicillin (80.6%) and tetracycline (54.8%). Conclusion. e prevalence of gonococcal infection is high. In the current study, participants who have no information about sexually transmitted infection were more likely to be infected by N. gonorrhoeae. According to our study, ciprofloxacin is effective against gonococcal infection.

Parasites & Vectors, Oct 2, 2017

Background: Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volv... more Background: Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. In endemic areas, the diagnosis is commonly confirmed by microscopic examination of skin snip samples, though this technique is considered to have low sensitivity. The available melting-curve based quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) using degenerated primers targeting the O-150 repeat of O. volvulus was considered insufficient for confirming the individual diagnosis, especially in elimination studies. This study aimed to improve detection of O. volvulus DNA in clinical samples through the development of a highly sensitive qPCR assay. Methods: A novel hydrolysis probe based qPCR assay was designed targeting the specific sequence of the O. volvulus O-5S rRNA gene. A total of 200 clinically suspected onchocerciasis cases were included from Goma district in Southwest Ethiopia, from October 2012 through May 2013. Skin snip samples were collected and subjected to microscopy, O-150 qPCR, and the novel O-5S qPCR. Results: Among the 200 individuals, 133 patients tested positive (positivity rate of 66.5%) and 67 negative by O-5S qPCR, 74 tested positive by microscopy (37.0%) and 78 tested positive by O-150 qPCR (39.0%). Among the 133 O-5S qPCR positive individuals, microscopy and O-150 qPCR detected 55.6 and 59.4% patients, respectively, implying a higher sensitivity of O-5S qPCR than microscopy and O-150 qPCR. None of the 67 individuals who tested negative by O-5S qPCR tested positive by microscopy or O-150 qPCR, implying 100% specificity of the newly designed O-5S qPCR assay. Conclusions: The novel O-5S qPCR assay is more sensitive than both microscopic examination and the existing O-150 qPCR for the detection of O. volvulus from skin snip samples. The newly designed assay is an important step towards appropriate individual diagnosis and control of onchocerciasis.

Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines, Sep 24, 2018

Background: Salmonella species are among the most common food borne pathogens worldwide and their... more Background: Salmonella species are among the most common food borne pathogens worldwide and their infection is one of the major global public health problems. During the last decade, multidrug resistant Salmonella species have greatly increased in humans and animals. So the aim of this study was to determine prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Salmonella in apparently healthy slaughterer cattle and personnel working at the Jimma abattoir. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to September 2016 at the Jimma abattoir. A total of 440 samples consisting of carcass swabs (n = 195), cattle feces (n = 195), and human stool (n = 50) were collected. Standard isolation and identification procedures were performed to identify Salmonella isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were also carried out on each isolate. Results: The overall proportion of Salmonella positive isolates was 9.5% in all samples, of which 11.3% were from carcass swabs, 5.6% from cattle feces, and 18% from human stool. All isolates were resistant to tasted antibiotics except Ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: This study ascertains that Salmonella were widely distributed and significant proportions have developed resistance to routinely prescribed antibiotics. Therefore, there is needed to implement urgent intervention programs in study area.

Iranian Journal of Microbiology

Background and Objectives: Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem that restricts the opti... more Background and Objectives: Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem that restricts the options for treating bacterial pneumonia. This research aimed to determine the bacterial causes of pneumonia and antibiotic resistance among hospitalized patients in southwest Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: We collected and analyzed 150 sputum samples from individuals with community-acquired pneu- monia from April 1st to October 30th, 2019. Standard bacteriological procedures were used to identify the bacteria. Kirby Bauer's disk diffusion method was used to assess the bacteria's susceptibility patterns. Production of carbapenemase and extended-spectrum-lactamase were confirmed phenotypically. Odds ratios and the chi-square test were computed. Results: On the whole, bacterial pathogens were verified in 50% of the sputum samples. The predominant bacterial isolates were Klebsiella species, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. About ...

BMC Proceedings

Data is an essential tool for valid and reliable healthcare management. Access to high-quality da... more Data is an essential tool for valid and reliable healthcare management. Access to high-quality data is critical to ensuring the early identification of problems, the design of appropriate interventions, and the effective implementation and evaluation of health intervention outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for strong information systems and the value of producing high-quality data for timely response and tracking resources and progress have been very evident across countries. The availability of and access to high-quality data at all levels of the health systems of low and middle-income countries is a challenge, which is exacerbated by multiple parallels and poorly integrated data sources, a lack of data-sharing standards and policy frameworks, their weak enforcement, and inadequate skills among those handling data. Completeness, accuracy, integrity, validity, and timeliness are challenges to data availability and use. “Big Data” is a necessity and a challenge in the ...

PLOS ONE

Background Depression is the most common mental health problem, and frequently associated with ph... more Background Depression is the most common mental health problem, and frequently associated with physical illnesses. A link between depression, dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has previously been reported. However, there is limited data regarding the association between these conditions from sub-Saharan Africa where they are highly prevalent. Objective This study aimed at elucidating the potential associations between depression, dyspepsia and H. pylori infection in Ethiopia. Methods We conducted a community based cross-sectional study involving urban and rural residents aged 13 years or older in Jimma Zone, southwest Ethiopia. A total of 871 participants were evaluated using a structured case reporting format for symptoms of dyspepsia and the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression. Additionally, participants were assessed for H. pylori infection using stool antigen and serology tests. A multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the ass...

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity ... more Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. The natural course of COPD is characterized by acute exacerbation. Infectious agents, particularly bacteria, cause exacerbation of COPD in the majority. This study aimed to determine the bacteriology and antibiotic resistance patterns among patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) at Jimma Medical Center. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to October 2019. Demographic, clinical, and sputa samples were collected from 39 study participants, who were diagnosed with AECOPD. Bacterial pathogens were identified using standard bacteriological techniques, and anti-microbial susceptibility testing was done by Kirby Bauer’s disk diffusion method. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESβL) and carbapenemase production were confirmed by MASTTM D68C and MASTTM D73C combination disc sets, respectively. Chi-square and odds ratios were calculated. Resu...

Background : Tackling neonatal infections and antibiotic resistance remains a challenge in low-in... more Background : Tackling neonatal infections and antibiotic resistance remains a challenge in low-income countries where neonatal mortality is high and antibiotic resistance is growing. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial etiologies and their drug resistance patterns in neonates admitted with diagnosis of sepsis to neonatal intensive care unit at Jimma Medical Center in Ethiopia. Methods : A prospective longitudinal study was conducted from April to October 2018. A total of 313 clinical specimens (211 blood and 102 cerebrospinal fluid) were processed for 238 neonates suspected to have sepsis. Blood culture was done using BD BACTEC FX40 automated system. Bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing were done according to standard microbiological techniques. Results : Bacterial etiologies were isolated from 62.1% (131/211) and 3.9% (4/102) of blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures respectively. The predominant bacteria isolated from blood were Coagulase nega...

Background: Sepsis is a major cause of maternal death worldwide and caused by a variety of bacter... more Background: Sepsis is a major cause of maternal death worldwide and caused by a variety of bacterial pathogens. In many developing countries including Ethiopia, the treatment of puerperal sepsis is based on empirical/syndromic that may promote antimicrobial resistance. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate bacterial pathogens, their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and associated factors among women with suspected puerperal sepsis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among puerperal sepsis suspected women attending Asella Referral and Teaching Hospital, from September 2020 to August 2021. A total of 174 study participants were enrolled. Sociodemographic and obstetric data of the participants were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire and checklist respectively. About 20 ml blood sample was collected from all study participants into BacT/ALERT® 3D blood culture bottles and incubated into BacT/ALERT® 3D automated blood culture system. Endoc...

Background: Vegetables might have frequently been contaminated with different microbial agents in... more Background: Vegetables might have frequently been contaminated with different microbial agents including pathogens from soil, animal and human sources. They may be contaminated at any point during growing, harvesting, sorting, packaging, and storage. This study was aimed at assessing antibiotic susceptibility patterns and plasmid profile of microbial isolates from fresh vegetables collected in selected local market at Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia from Feb to April, 2015. Methods:A cross sectional study design was conducted. A total of 150 fresh vegetable samples were collected on different days from different local markets. Five types of fresh vegetable comprising lettuce, cabbage, carrot, tomato, green pepper was collected from farmers and four purposively selected local markets. For microbiological analyses, 25g of sample was aseptically weighed and washed gently in 225ml of sterile 0.1% (w/v) peptone water (Oxoid) for 3 minutes. Total plate count, bacterial isolation, antimicrobial susceptibility tests and plasmid identification were performed. Results: More than 80% of vegetable specimens collected showed viable counts of > 10 6 CFU/g with ranges of 10 5-10 7 CFU/g. A total of 102 bacterial isolates of eight genera were identified. Enterobacter spp. (21.60%) was the most dominant followed by Citrobacter spp. (20.6%), Klebsiella spp. (18.6%), Salmonella spp. (11.8%), E. coli (10.8%), Proteus spp. (9.8%), S. aureus (4.9%), and P. aeruginosa (2%). More than 90% of microbial isolates were resistant for Ampicillin and amoxicillin.All the S. aureus isolates were sensitive to oxacillin and vancomycin.Nearly 96% of the isolates were sensitive for ciprofloxacillinwhereas 33 % of the isolates showed resistance to oxytetracycline..

Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Background. In resource-constrained countries, accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infectio... more Background. In resource-constrained countries, accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection remains a challenge. This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of locally available serological and stool antigen test kits in the management of people with suspected H. pylori infection in Ethiopia. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted with apparently healthy adults and children living in southwest Ethiopia. Participants were interviewed for dyspepsia symptoms and related clinical conditions. H. pylori infection was examined using commercially available serological and stool antigen tests. The association between H. pylori tests and dyspepsia symptoms was analyzed using logistic regression models. Results. Out of 1392 participants included in the final analysis, 49.1% and 6.5% tested positive for H. pylori infection with serology and stool antigen test kits, respectively. Participants reporting epigastric symptoms in the past three months (AOR = 1.93, 9...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

This proposal focuses on both (1) data acquisition/assimilation and (2) predictive modeling. In t... more This proposal focuses on both (1) data acquisition/assimilation and (2) predictive modeling. In the case of land data, historical reconstruction requires both elements due to sparse temporal data, and future projection is dependent upon the initial state and historical trends.

Infection and Drug Resistance, 2021

AIDS Research and Treatment, 2020

Background. Human resources for health-care delivery are essential for attaining global health an... more Background. Human resources for health-care delivery are essential for attaining global health and development goals. Especially in developing countries, health extension workers are frontline health personnel who can play a key role in preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of health extension workers in HIV-1/2 screening tests. Methodology. A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the performance of health extension workers in HIV-1/2 screening tests. Study participants had performed HIV screening tests on the prepared sample panels. Finally, the percentage of accuracy, error rate, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and measure of agreement (kappa) were calculated using SPSS version 26. Result. Totally, 1600 HIV screening tests were performed, and of these, 684 and 235 tests were done by HEWs (n = 15) and laboratory personnel (n = 5), respectively, with three discordant results by HEWs from a single sample...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

˜The œPediatric infectious disease journal/˜The œpediatric infectious disease journal, Apr 24, 2024

Antibiotics, Apr 19, 2024

Research Square (Research Square), Sep 13, 2023

Under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and the lack of information about circulating SARS-CoV-2 varian... more Under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and the lack of information about circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants remain major challenges for many African countries to date. To address this, we present a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Ethiopia, focusing on reinfection dynamics, (variant-specific) immunity, and the impact of vaccination rates. We conducted an antibody serology study, sequenced positive polymerase chain reaction tests, used available test positivity rates, and constructed two mathematical models integrating these data sets. A multivariant model was used to explore the variant dynamics and differential susceptibility to reinfection based on genetic distances between variants, identifying wildtype, alpha, delta, and omicron BA.4/5 as the four most important variants in Ethiopia. Cross-immunity between variants is investigated, revealing immunities ranging from 24% to 69% risk reduction. A second, antibody-level focused model, predicts slow antibody decay, particularly for Anti-S antibodies, leading to sustained high antibody levels until present times. Retrospectively, it suggests that increased early vaccination could have substantially reduced infections during the delta and omicron waves. However, as a large proportion of the population might have already had multiple infections that led to a strong immune response, further vaccination is less likely to have a significant impact now.

Frontiers in microbiology, Jan 24, 2024

International Journal of Microbiology, Aug 24, 2020

Background. In most African countries including Ethiopia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections were d... more Background. In most African countries including Ethiopia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections were diagnosed clinically and its antibiotic susceptibility was rarely tested. is study aimed to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of N. gonorrhoeae among suspected patients attending private clinics in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods. Institution-based crosssectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of N. gonorrhoeae isolated from urogenital specimens. Urogenital samples were collected aseptically and then transported using Amie's transport media and processed in a microbiology laboratory following the standard protocol. Results. Of the total 315 samples examined, 31 (9.8%) were confirmed to have gonococcal infection. Of these, 30 (96.7%) were females. High proportion of culture confirmed cases (18 (12.5%)) were observed in the 20-24 age group. All of the identified organisms were susceptible to ceftriaxone and had high resistance to penicillin (80.6%) and tetracycline (54.8%). Conclusion. e prevalence of gonococcal infection is high. In the current study, participants who have no information about sexually transmitted infection were more likely to be infected by N. gonorrhoeae. According to our study, ciprofloxacin is effective against gonococcal infection.

Parasites & Vectors, Oct 2, 2017

Background: Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volv... more Background: Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. In endemic areas, the diagnosis is commonly confirmed by microscopic examination of skin snip samples, though this technique is considered to have low sensitivity. The available melting-curve based quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) using degenerated primers targeting the O-150 repeat of O. volvulus was considered insufficient for confirming the individual diagnosis, especially in elimination studies. This study aimed to improve detection of O. volvulus DNA in clinical samples through the development of a highly sensitive qPCR assay. Methods: A novel hydrolysis probe based qPCR assay was designed targeting the specific sequence of the O. volvulus O-5S rRNA gene. A total of 200 clinically suspected onchocerciasis cases were included from Goma district in Southwest Ethiopia, from October 2012 through May 2013. Skin snip samples were collected and subjected to microscopy, O-150 qPCR, and the novel O-5S qPCR. Results: Among the 200 individuals, 133 patients tested positive (positivity rate of 66.5%) and 67 negative by O-5S qPCR, 74 tested positive by microscopy (37.0%) and 78 tested positive by O-150 qPCR (39.0%). Among the 133 O-5S qPCR positive individuals, microscopy and O-150 qPCR detected 55.6 and 59.4% patients, respectively, implying a higher sensitivity of O-5S qPCR than microscopy and O-150 qPCR. None of the 67 individuals who tested negative by O-5S qPCR tested positive by microscopy or O-150 qPCR, implying 100% specificity of the newly designed O-5S qPCR assay. Conclusions: The novel O-5S qPCR assay is more sensitive than both microscopic examination and the existing O-150 qPCR for the detection of O. volvulus from skin snip samples. The newly designed assay is an important step towards appropriate individual diagnosis and control of onchocerciasis.

Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines, Sep 24, 2018

Background: Salmonella species are among the most common food borne pathogens worldwide and their... more Background: Salmonella species are among the most common food borne pathogens worldwide and their infection is one of the major global public health problems. During the last decade, multidrug resistant Salmonella species have greatly increased in humans and animals. So the aim of this study was to determine prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Salmonella in apparently healthy slaughterer cattle and personnel working at the Jimma abattoir. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to September 2016 at the Jimma abattoir. A total of 440 samples consisting of carcass swabs (n = 195), cattle feces (n = 195), and human stool (n = 50) were collected. Standard isolation and identification procedures were performed to identify Salmonella isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were also carried out on each isolate. Results: The overall proportion of Salmonella positive isolates was 9.5% in all samples, of which 11.3% were from carcass swabs, 5.6% from cattle feces, and 18% from human stool. All isolates were resistant to tasted antibiotics except Ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: This study ascertains that Salmonella were widely distributed and significant proportions have developed resistance to routinely prescribed antibiotics. Therefore, there is needed to implement urgent intervention programs in study area.

Iranian Journal of Microbiology

Background and Objectives: Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem that restricts the opti... more Background and Objectives: Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem that restricts the options for treating bacterial pneumonia. This research aimed to determine the bacterial causes of pneumonia and antibiotic resistance among hospitalized patients in southwest Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: We collected and analyzed 150 sputum samples from individuals with community-acquired pneu- monia from April 1st to October 30th, 2019. Standard bacteriological procedures were used to identify the bacteria. Kirby Bauer's disk diffusion method was used to assess the bacteria's susceptibility patterns. Production of carbapenemase and extended-spectrum-lactamase were confirmed phenotypically. Odds ratios and the chi-square test were computed. Results: On the whole, bacterial pathogens were verified in 50% of the sputum samples. The predominant bacterial isolates were Klebsiella species, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. About ...

BMC Proceedings

Data is an essential tool for valid and reliable healthcare management. Access to high-quality da... more Data is an essential tool for valid and reliable healthcare management. Access to high-quality data is critical to ensuring the early identification of problems, the design of appropriate interventions, and the effective implementation and evaluation of health intervention outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for strong information systems and the value of producing high-quality data for timely response and tracking resources and progress have been very evident across countries. The availability of and access to high-quality data at all levels of the health systems of low and middle-income countries is a challenge, which is exacerbated by multiple parallels and poorly integrated data sources, a lack of data-sharing standards and policy frameworks, their weak enforcement, and inadequate skills among those handling data. Completeness, accuracy, integrity, validity, and timeliness are challenges to data availability and use. “Big Data” is a necessity and a challenge in the ...

PLOS ONE

Background Depression is the most common mental health problem, and frequently associated with ph... more Background Depression is the most common mental health problem, and frequently associated with physical illnesses. A link between depression, dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has previously been reported. However, there is limited data regarding the association between these conditions from sub-Saharan Africa where they are highly prevalent. Objective This study aimed at elucidating the potential associations between depression, dyspepsia and H. pylori infection in Ethiopia. Methods We conducted a community based cross-sectional study involving urban and rural residents aged 13 years or older in Jimma Zone, southwest Ethiopia. A total of 871 participants were evaluated using a structured case reporting format for symptoms of dyspepsia and the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression. Additionally, participants were assessed for H. pylori infection using stool antigen and serology tests. A multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the ass...

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity ... more Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. The natural course of COPD is characterized by acute exacerbation. Infectious agents, particularly bacteria, cause exacerbation of COPD in the majority. This study aimed to determine the bacteriology and antibiotic resistance patterns among patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) at Jimma Medical Center. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to October 2019. Demographic, clinical, and sputa samples were collected from 39 study participants, who were diagnosed with AECOPD. Bacterial pathogens were identified using standard bacteriological techniques, and anti-microbial susceptibility testing was done by Kirby Bauer’s disk diffusion method. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESβL) and carbapenemase production were confirmed by MASTTM D68C and MASTTM D73C combination disc sets, respectively. Chi-square and odds ratios were calculated. Resu...

Background : Tackling neonatal infections and antibiotic resistance remains a challenge in low-in... more Background : Tackling neonatal infections and antibiotic resistance remains a challenge in low-income countries where neonatal mortality is high and antibiotic resistance is growing. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial etiologies and their drug resistance patterns in neonates admitted with diagnosis of sepsis to neonatal intensive care unit at Jimma Medical Center in Ethiopia. Methods : A prospective longitudinal study was conducted from April to October 2018. A total of 313 clinical specimens (211 blood and 102 cerebrospinal fluid) were processed for 238 neonates suspected to have sepsis. Blood culture was done using BD BACTEC FX40 automated system. Bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing were done according to standard microbiological techniques. Results : Bacterial etiologies were isolated from 62.1% (131/211) and 3.9% (4/102) of blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures respectively. The predominant bacteria isolated from blood were Coagulase nega...

Background: Sepsis is a major cause of maternal death worldwide and caused by a variety of bacter... more Background: Sepsis is a major cause of maternal death worldwide and caused by a variety of bacterial pathogens. In many developing countries including Ethiopia, the treatment of puerperal sepsis is based on empirical/syndromic that may promote antimicrobial resistance. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate bacterial pathogens, their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and associated factors among women with suspected puerperal sepsis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among puerperal sepsis suspected women attending Asella Referral and Teaching Hospital, from September 2020 to August 2021. A total of 174 study participants were enrolled. Sociodemographic and obstetric data of the participants were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire and checklist respectively. About 20 ml blood sample was collected from all study participants into BacT/ALERT® 3D blood culture bottles and incubated into BacT/ALERT® 3D automated blood culture system. Endoc...

Background: Vegetables might have frequently been contaminated with different microbial agents in... more Background: Vegetables might have frequently been contaminated with different microbial agents including pathogens from soil, animal and human sources. They may be contaminated at any point during growing, harvesting, sorting, packaging, and storage. This study was aimed at assessing antibiotic susceptibility patterns and plasmid profile of microbial isolates from fresh vegetables collected in selected local market at Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia from Feb to April, 2015. Methods:A cross sectional study design was conducted. A total of 150 fresh vegetable samples were collected on different days from different local markets. Five types of fresh vegetable comprising lettuce, cabbage, carrot, tomato, green pepper was collected from farmers and four purposively selected local markets. For microbiological analyses, 25g of sample was aseptically weighed and washed gently in 225ml of sterile 0.1% (w/v) peptone water (Oxoid) for 3 minutes. Total plate count, bacterial isolation, antimicrobial susceptibility tests and plasmid identification were performed. Results: More than 80% of vegetable specimens collected showed viable counts of > 10 6 CFU/g with ranges of 10 5-10 7 CFU/g. A total of 102 bacterial isolates of eight genera were identified. Enterobacter spp. (21.60%) was the most dominant followed by Citrobacter spp. (20.6%), Klebsiella spp. (18.6%), Salmonella spp. (11.8%), E. coli (10.8%), Proteus spp. (9.8%), S. aureus (4.9%), and P. aeruginosa (2%). More than 90% of microbial isolates were resistant for Ampicillin and amoxicillin.All the S. aureus isolates were sensitive to oxacillin and vancomycin.Nearly 96% of the isolates were sensitive for ciprofloxacillinwhereas 33 % of the isolates showed resistance to oxytetracycline..

Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Background. In resource-constrained countries, accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infectio... more Background. In resource-constrained countries, accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection remains a challenge. This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of locally available serological and stool antigen test kits in the management of people with suspected H. pylori infection in Ethiopia. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted with apparently healthy adults and children living in southwest Ethiopia. Participants were interviewed for dyspepsia symptoms and related clinical conditions. H. pylori infection was examined using commercially available serological and stool antigen tests. The association between H. pylori tests and dyspepsia symptoms was analyzed using logistic regression models. Results. Out of 1392 participants included in the final analysis, 49.1% and 6.5% tested positive for H. pylori infection with serology and stool antigen test kits, respectively. Participants reporting epigastric symptoms in the past three months (AOR = 1.93, 9...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

This proposal focuses on both (1) data acquisition/assimilation and (2) predictive modeling. In t... more This proposal focuses on both (1) data acquisition/assimilation and (2) predictive modeling. In the case of land data, historical reconstruction requires both elements due to sparse temporal data, and future projection is dependent upon the initial state and historical trends.

Infection and Drug Resistance, 2021

AIDS Research and Treatment, 2020

Background. Human resources for health-care delivery are essential for attaining global health an... more Background. Human resources for health-care delivery are essential for attaining global health and development goals. Especially in developing countries, health extension workers are frontline health personnel who can play a key role in preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of health extension workers in HIV-1/2 screening tests. Methodology. A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the performance of health extension workers in HIV-1/2 screening tests. Study participants had performed HIV screening tests on the prepared sample panels. Finally, the percentage of accuracy, error rate, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and measure of agreement (kappa) were calculated using SPSS version 26. Result. Totally, 1600 HIV screening tests were performed, and of these, 684 and 235 tests were done by HEWs (n = 15) and laboratory personnel (n = 5), respectively, with three discordant results by HEWs from a single sample...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018