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.

Prevalence and epidemiology of micro- and macroalbuminuria in Ethiopian diabetic patients.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on the prevalence and epidemiology of micro- and macroalbuminuria in diabetic outpatients in Gondar, Ethiopia. Microalbuminuria was defined as a mean urinary albumin concentration of 30-299mg L-1 in morning urine of three consecutive visits. The frequency of micro- and macroalbuminuria was 32% and 15% in IDDM patients and 37% and 20% in NIDDM patients, respectively.

Glycaemic control and its determinants in diabetic patients in Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional study was undertaken in which concentrations of glycated haemoglobins were measured in 102 diabetics seen at the outpatient clinic in Gondar, Ethiopia, between 26 January and 7 March, 1995. Mean HbA1, levels (standard deviations) were 5.35% (1.

Chloramphenicol-resistant Salmonella typhi from a patient in Addis Abeba.

The clinical history and treatment outcome of a twenty-year old female patient (EN) with typhoid fever is presented. Laboratory examination showed that the etiological agent was a strain of Salmonella typhi which was simultaneously resistant to chloramphenicol (C), streptomycin (S), sulphonamides (Su) and tetracycline (T). Genetic and molecular analysis of this strain demonstrated that resistance to CSSuT was encoded in a plasmid which showed a thermosensitive (28 degrees C) transfer to an Escherichia coli K12 recipient, at a frequency of 4.

Molecular epidemiology of plasmid patterns in Shigella flexneri types 1-6.

A total of 123 drug-resistant and drug-sensitive Shigella flexneri types 1-6, and their Escherichia coli K12 transconjugants were used for plasmid profile analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis. Resistance factors (R-factors) were further characterized by incompatibility testing. The overall distribution of small plasmids in S.

Plasmid profiles of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 isolates from Ethiopia with special reference to R-plasmids.

Plasmid profiles of 80 Shigella dysenteriae type 1 (Shiga's bacillus) strains, collected between 1974 and 1985 in Ethiopia, were examined. Strains with the dominant antibiotic-resistance (R-) type--resistance to ampicillin (A), chloramphenicol (C), streptomycin (S), sulphadiazine (Su) and tetracycline (T)--showed two distinct plasmid profiles (PP). Six plasmid bands were demonstrated in "Ethiopian strains" with PP-1A isolated between 1974 and 1982.

Plasmid profiles of antibiotic-resistant Shigella dysenteriae types 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 isolated in Ethiopia during 1976-85.

Plasmid profile analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis was carried out on 37 drug-resistant strains of Shigella dysenteriae types 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. These strains were collected between 1976 and 1985 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The plasmid profile of S.

Plasmid DNA analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis on an epidemic-associated strain of trimethoprim resistant Shiga's bacillus from Gimira Wereda (Keffa administrative region, southwest Ethiopia).

A combination of genetic mating experiments and plasmid DNA analysis by gel electrophoresis was carried out on an epidemic-associated Shiga's bacillus with resistance type ACSSuTTp, isolated in 1983 from Gimira Wereda, Keffa Administrative Region, South West Ethiopia. The donor strain contained 9 plasmid species. Their sizes in megadaltons (Mdal) were: 120, 40, 35, 12.

Transferable or mobilisable antibiotic resistance in Shigella dysenteriae types 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 isolated in Ethiopia during 1974-85.

A total of 199 Shigella dysenteriae isolates resistant to one or more antibiotics and belonging to types 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 was examined by one-step broth mating with Escherichia coli K12 and, if non-conjugative, additionally by triparental crosses with the conjugative plasmids X and delta. Of the S. dysenteriae type 1 (Shiga's bacillus) strains, 96% harboured conjugative plasmids.