Research ethics review practices: experiences of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute/All Africa Leprosy and Tuberculosis Rehabilitation and Training Center Ethics Review Committee, Ethiopia.

The need for ethics review committees (ERCs) is imperative in the conduct of research to ensure the protection of the rights, safety and well-being of research participants. However, the capacities of most ERCs in Africa are limited in terms of trained experts, competence, resources as well as standard operating procedures. The aim of this report is to share experiences of one of the local institutional ERCs, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI)/All Africa Leprosy and Tuberculosis Rehabilitation and Training Center (ALERT) Ethics Review Committee (AAERC), to other ERCs found in academic and research institutions in the Country.

Field evaluation of FD-DAT, rK39 dipstick and KATEX (urine latex agglutination) for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in northwest Ethiopia.

Three novel diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), namely FD-DAT, rK39 dipstick and KATEX, were evaluated under field conditions using 101 clinical cases suspected of having VL enrolled in a trial either by active (63 patients) or passive (38 patients) surveillance. VL was confirmed in 49 patients: 35 by both aspirate smear microscopy and NNN culture, 10 by NNN culture alone and 4 by aspirate smear microscopy alone. Based on tests performed in the field, sensitivity for FD-DAT, rK39 dipstick and KATEX was determined to be 95.

Coronary heart disease risk factors among blood donors in northwest Ethiopia.

Objective: To establish reference blood levels of total blood cholesterol (TC), lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C & HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) and determine the prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia and other coronary heart disease risk factors.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Setting: The blood bank at the Gondar College of Medical Sciences Hospital--a teaching and referral hospital in northwest Ethiopia.

[Cardiovascular risk factors in ethiopian medical students].

Selected cardiovascular risk factors, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, presence of overweight, blood pressure and lifestyle patterns were assessed in 66 male medical students from Ethiopia aged between 18 and 26 years. Mean serum cholesterol concentration was 134.4 mg/dl with a standard deviation (SD) of 39.

Plasmid profiles of drug resistant Shigella boydii types 1-5, 8, 10, 12-14 from Ethiopia (1974-85).

Plasmid profile analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis was performed on 42 drug resistant strains of Shigella boydii serotypes 1-5, 8, 10, 12-14, collected between 1974 and 1985 from endemic cases of shigellosis in Ethiopia, and their Escherichia coli K12 transconjugants. Resistance factors (R factors) were further characterized by incompatibility testing. Patterns of small plasmids, less than 15 kb, were similar within each of the individual S.