Borrelia recurrentis in head lice, Ethiopia.

Since the 1800s, the only known vector of Borrelia recurrentis has been the body louse. In 2011, we found B. recurrentis DNA in 23% of head lice from patients with louse-borne relapsing fever in Ethiopia.

Multispacer sequence typing relapsing fever Borreliae in Africa.

Background: In Africa, relapsing fevers are neglected arthropod-borne infections caused by closely related Borrelia species. They cause mild to deadly undifferentiated fever particularly severe in pregnant women. Lack of a tool to genotype these Borrelia organisms limits knowledge regarding their reservoirs and their epidemiology.

Patch testing and contact allergens in Ethiopia--results of 514 contact dermatitis patients using the European baseline series.

Background: Patch testing is essential to diagnose allergic contact dermatitis. Dermatologists in many countries use a baseline (standard) series covering the major allergens responsible for allergic contact dermatitis in their population, with the addition of relevant allergens for the individual patient. However, a baseline series has not yet been developed for Ethiopia.

Community dermatology in Debre Markos: an attempt to define children's dermatological needs in a rural area of Ethiopia.

Background: Skin diseases are very common in rural and urban areas in developing countries. Knowledge of the real frequency of the dermatological problems of Ethiopian children could help plan future intervention for early diagnosis and low cost "good practice" therapies.

Methods: We involved in the project two primary Ethiopian schools, attended by 1765 children from grade 1 to grade 4, who were screened to assess their general skin health conditions.

Patch test reaction on Ethiopian subjects with eczema.

Background: Allergic contact dermatitis is a common condition with an incidence of 1-10% in the general population. An increasing number of allergens in the environment are responsible for the condition. These allergens can be identified using patch testing.