Sexual dysfunction among people with mental illness in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis study.

Background: Sexual dysfunction is the most frequent health problem among psychiatric patients. This could be the result of both the nature of the illness itself and the side effects of prescribed psychotropic medications. It also significantly affects an individual's general well-being, interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, and treatment outcomes.

The burden of severe asthma in sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from the African Severe Asthma Project.

Background: Severe asthma is associated with high morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization, but its burden in Africa is unknown.

Objective: We sought to determine the burden (prevalence, mortality, and activity and work impairment) of severe asthma in 3 countries in East Africa: Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

Methods: Using the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society case definition of severe asthma, we analyzed for the prevalence of severe asthma (requiring Global Initiative for Asthma [GINA] steps 4-5 asthma medications for the previous year to achieve control) and severe refractory asthma (remains uncontrolled despite treatment with GINA steps 4-5 asthma medications) in a cohort of 1086 asthma patients who had been in care for 12 months and had received all GINA-recommended medications.

Predictors of ICU Mortality among Mechanically Ventilated Patients: An Inception Cohort Study from a Tertiary Care Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving intervention for patients with critical illnesses, yet it is associated with higher mortality in resource-constrained settings. This study intended to determine factors associated with the mortality of mechanically ventilated adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Methods: A one-year retrospective inception cohort study was conducted using manual chart review in ICU patients (age >13) admitted to Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) from September 2019 to September 2020; mechanically ventilated patients were followed to hospital discharge.

The yield of chest X-ray based versus symptom-based screening among patients with diabetes mellitus in public health facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at increased risk of developing TB, but the best screening algorithm for early detection and treatment of TB remains unknown. Our objective was to determine if combining routine chest X-ray screening could have a better yield compared with symptom-based screening alone.

Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study between September 2020 and September 2021 in 26 public health facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Assessment of hypertension and other factors associated with the severity of disease in COVID-19 pneumonia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A case-control study.

Background: Various reports suggested that pre-existing medical illnesses, including hypertension and other demographic, clinical, and laboratory factors, could pose an increased risk of disease severity and mortality among COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to assess the relation of hypertension and other factors to the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia in patients discharged from Eka Kotebe Hospital in June-September, 2020.

Methods: This is a single-center case-control study of 265 adult patients discharged alive or dead, 75 with a course of severe COVID-19 for the cases arm and 190 with the non-severe disease for the control arm.

High rates of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus among patients with active tuberculosis in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have negative synergistic impact on each other. Global guidelines recommend collaborative efforts to address this synergy, but implementation has been slow. Part of the reason is lack of adequate evidence on the operational feasibility of existing tools and mechanisms of collaboration.

Impact of COVID-19 on population health and economic wellbeing in Ethiopia: A national pilot survey.

Introduction: The COVD-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented global health and economic crisis, particularly in countries struggling with poverty. We conducted a national survey to understand the economic and health impacts of COVID-19 in Ethiopia.

Methods: A pilot, population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults randomly selected from the Ethio Telecom list of mobile phone numbers.

Determinants of asthma in Ethiopia: age and sex matched case control study with special reference to household fuel exposure and housing characteristics.

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by airway obstruction and hyper-responsiveness. Studies suggest that household fuel exposure and housing characteristics are associated with air way related allergy. But there remains to be a considerable uncertainty about whether that reflects an association with asthma.

Prognostic factors and outcomes of COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia: multi-center cohort study protocol.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and became pandemic after emerging in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Several studies have been conducted to understand the key features of COVID-19 and its public health impact. However, the prognostic factors of COVID-19 are not well studied in the African setting.

Trends of follow-up clinic visits and admissions three-months before and during COVID-19 pandemic at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Following the first report of the COVID-19 case in Ethiopia on March 13, 2020, the country promptly adopted a lockdown policy to contain the virus's spread. Responding to the healthcare burden imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic had to be coupled with ensuring essential health care services. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the trends in hospital visits and admissions at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital by comparing the rate of follow-up clinic visits and admissions for the 3 months before and after the first report of the COVID-19 case.

Evaluation of COVID-19 related knowledge and preparedness in health professionals at selected health facilities in a resource-limited setting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: The World Health Organization has declared that infection with SARS-CoV-2 is a pandemic. Experiences with SARS in 2003 and SARS-CoV-2 have shown that health professionals are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Hence, it has been recommended that aperiodic wide-scale assessment of the knowledge and preparedness of health professionals regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic is critical.

Pragmatic Recommendations for the Management of Anticoagulation and Venous Thrombotic Disease for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

New studies of COVID-19 are constantly updating best practices in clinical care. Often, it is impractical to apply recommendations based on high-income country investigations to resource limited settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We present a set of pragmatic recommendations for the management of anticoagulation and thrombotic disease for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in LMICs.

COVID-19 and the public response: Knowledge, attitude and practice of the public in mitigating the pandemic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the global community in many ways. Combating the COVID-19 pandemic requires a coordinated effort through engaging public and service providers in preventive measures. The government of Ethiopia had already announced prevention guidelines for the public.

Burden of tuberculosis and challenges related to screening and diagnosis in Ethiopia.

Introduction: One-third of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Ethiopia are missing from care for reasons that are not well studied. The aim of this study was to assess TB burden and identify challenges related to TB screening and diagnosis in Ethiopia.

Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in seven health facilities selected from two regions and 2 city administrations of Ethiopia using stratified random sampling procedures.

Phenotypic characteristics and asthma severity in an East African cohort of adults and adolescents with asthma: findings from the African severe asthma project.

Rationale: The relationship between clinical and biomarker characteristics of asthma and its severity in Africa is not well known.

Methods: Using the Expert Panel Report 3, we assessed for asthma severity and its relationship with key phenotypic characteristics in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. The characteristics included adult onset asthma, family history of asthma, exposures (smoking and biomass), comorbidities (HIV, hypertension, obesity, tuberculosis (TB), rhinosinusitis, gastro-oesophageal disease (GERD) and biomarkers (fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), skin prick test (SPT) and blood eosinophils).

Desire for birth spacing or limiting and non-use of long acting and permanent contraceptive methods among married women of reproductive age in Aksum Town, North Ethiopia.

Background: Long acting and permanent contraceptive methods are the most effective family planning (FP) methods to prevent pregnancy and thereby averting adverse consequences of too many and ill-timed pregnancies. However, long acting and permanent contraceptive methods (LAPMs) are underutilized in Ethiopia for little documented reasons. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess magnitude and factors associated with desire for birth spacing for at least 2 years or limiting child bearing and non-use of LAPMs among married women of reproductive age in Aksum town, Northern Ethiopia.

Population-based prevalence survey of tuberculosis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Background: Population based prevalence survey is an important epidemiological index to measure the burden of tuberculosis (TB) disease and monitor progress towards TB control in high burden countries like Ethiopia. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Methods: Sixteen rural and urban villages were randomly selected in a stratified multistage cluster sampling.

Veno-occlusive liver disease: a case report.

A case of veno-occlusive liver disease (VOLD) in a 12-years old Ethiopian boy is described The salient clinical features and gross and microscopic examination of biopsy material are reviewed. Veno-occlusive disease which occurs in the West Indies, East and West Africa, and India is an acute, subacute or chronic condition that affects the central and sublobular hepatic veins. In the West Indies (1) it is related to the consumption of bush tea made from plants that contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as Crotalaria and Senecio (2).

An outbreak of veno-occlusive liver disease in northern Ethiopia, clinical findings.

Background: Following the emergence of an unidentified fatal disease in Tahtay Koraro, rural farmers' village in Tigray, northern Ethiopia since 2001, a team of experts from Addis Ababa University Medical Faculty was assigned in November 2005, to investigate the problem in the field. The team consisted of an Infectious disease specialist, a Gastroenterologist, an Epidemiologist, a Pathologist, and a Microbiologist. The team was also joined by a group of Tigray Regional Health Bureauprofessionals.

An epidemiological study into the investigation of liver disease of unknown origin in a rural community of northern Ethiopia, 2005.

Background: An outbreak of an unidentified cause of liver disease that claimed the lives of more than 45 people occurred in a rural community, in Northwestern Tigray. Despite the wider need for an urgent response there was no obvious explanation for the disease occurrence.

Objective: The aim of the study was to collect basic descriptive information and compare exposure status among case and control house-holds to better understand the illness and its pattern of occurrence so as to identify the sources, mode of transmission and possible cause of the illness.