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Background: Globally, TB is the leading cause of infectious disease morbidity and mortality with many diagnostic uncertainties. Access to affordable and rapid diagnostics remained a major challenge for many developing countries which bear the greatest burden of TB delaying the initiation time to treatment., Objective: This study aimed to assess the GeneXpert MTBRIF assay probe utility for the detection of pulmonary TB and Rifampicin-resistant TB cases in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed from October 2019 to July 2020 in Saint Peter TB Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa metropolitan area, Ethiopia. This study enrolled 216 clinically suspected new presumptive pulmonary TB cases confirmed by GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were captured using a structured tool. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel 2019, checked for inconsistency, cleaned promptly, and exported to IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, N.Y: IBM Corp, the USA for analysis. Descriptive analysis and binary and multivariate logistics regression were performed and all statistical significance was determined at a 95% confidence level., Results: The majority of the study participants, 55.1% [119/216] were males aged 6-80 years. The prevalence of RR MTB was 11.11% [24/216]. A higher proportion of RR TB was found in female patients [54.2%, 13/24], in patients in the age group of 30-50 years [45.8%, 11/24], in married individuals [62.5%, 15/24], in persons whose residence is urban [79.2%, 19/24], in persons who had a previous history of TB symptoms [100%, 24/24], in persons who had a history of contact with active and LTBI [33.3%, 8/24], and in persons who had a history of HIV and IDUs [41.7%, 10/24]. Occupation (AOR 22.868, 95% CI 1.655-316.022, p = 0.019), history of previous PTB+ (AOR 4.222, 95% CI 1.020-17.47, p = 0.047), and history of HIV and IDUs (AOR 4.733, 95% CI 1.416-15.819, p = 0.012) were independent predictors associated with RR-TB emergence. The commonest mutation 62.5% [15/24] was found in probe E (codons 529-533) region. There was no mutation associated with probe A (codons 507-511), probe B (codons 511-518), and probe C (codons 518-523) regions, as well as no combination of missed probes, was revealed. However, 12.5% [3/24] of RR TB patients were found without unidentified missed probe types detected outside of the RRDR. The delta Ct max was >4.0 and the highest proportion of 35.6% [77/216] RR TB was detected in samples of medium DNA load., Conclusion: The proportion of RR-TB we observed in this study was high. Similarly, a higher proportion of RR TB was detected outside of the RRDR. Moreover, a significant number of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay probes were identified as unhybridized and this critical observation would mean that most of the probes had no or minimal utility in this geographical region. This calls for further studies to uncover mutation in the rpoB gene conferring RR and reshape TB triage and definite diagnostic algorithm in Ethiopia., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Akalu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) remain a major public health problem in developing countries including Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, comprehensive information about sero-epidemiology of major TTIs is lacking at the national level. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was aimed at providing the pooled estimate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis among blood donors in Ethiopia., Methods: Relevant studies published until May 31, 2019 were searched through PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS, HINARI, Cochrane database library, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Google. The methodological quality of articles was assessed using Joanna Brigg's Institute critical appraisal checklist for prevalence and analytical studies. The pooled sero-epidemiology of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis were determined using the random-effects model. Heterogeneity between the studies was assessed using the I 2 statistics. Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of the funnel plot and Egger's statistics., Results: A total of 7921 articles were retrieved, and 7798 were screened for eligibility after duplicates removed. Forty-nine full-text articles were assessed for eligibility; of which 45 were eligible for qualitative and quantitative synthesis: categorized as 36, 34, 31 and 23 studies for estimations of HBV, HIV, HCV and syphilis, respectively. In the random-effects model, the pooled sero-epidemiology of HBV, HIV, HCV and syphilis was 5.20, 2.83, 0.93 and 1.50%, respectively. Moreover, being a male blood donor was significantly associated with HBV and syphilis infection, whereas being a replacement blood donor was significantly associated with a high burden of HIV, HBV and HCV infections., Conclusion: The pooled sero-epidemiology of major TTIs among blood donors was high. Therefore, there is a need to design prevention and control strategies in a comprehensive approach to reduce the burden., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and HV have been intertwined and makeup a deadly human syndemic worldwide, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Previous studies have reported different TB incidences and its association with CD4 + T cell counts among HIV positive patients in Ethiopia. Thus, the goal of this meta-analysis was, first, to determine pooled incident TB among adult HIV positive patients, and second, to assess the association between incident TB and baseline CD4 + T cell count strata's., Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane library, Science Direct and Google scholar databases from June 1 to 30, 2018. The I 2 statistics and Egger's regression test was used to determine heterogeneity and publication bias among included studies respectively. A random effects model was used to estimate pooled incident TB and odds ratio with the respective 95% confidence intervals using Stata version 11.0 statistical software., Results: A total of 403 research articles were identified, and 10 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled incident TB among adult HIV infected patients in Ethiopia was 16.58% (95% CI; 13.25-19.91%). Specifically, TB incidence in Pre-ART and ART was 17.16% (95% CI; 7.95-26.37%) and 16.24% (95% CI; 12.63-19.84%) respectively. Moreover, incident TB among ART receiving patients with baseline CD4 + T cell count < and > 200 cells/mm 3 was 28.86% (95% CI; 18.73-38.98%) and 13.7% (95% CI; 1.41-25.98%) correspondingly. The odds of getting incident TB was 2.88 (95% CI; 1.55-5.35%) for patients with baseline CD4 + T cell count < 200 cells/mm 3 compared to patients with baseline CD4 + T cell count > 200 cells/mm 3 ., Conclusion: High incident TB among adult HIV positive patients was estimated, especially in patients with CD4 + T cell count < 200 cells/mm 3 . Therefore, Early HIV screening and ART initiation, as well as strict compliance with ART and increasing the coverage of TB preventive therapy to more risky groups are important to prevent the problem., Trial Registration: Study protocol registration: CRD42018090802.

Objective: Although incredible progress has been made in treatment and prevention of Hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections, the epidemic continues to spread in developing nations. The information on the prevalence and risk factors of Hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections among voluntary counseling and testing clients in Ethiopia is limited. Hence, the study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of Hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections among voluntary counseling and testing clients attending private health facilities in Bahir Dar city., Result: A total of 382 study participants with the mean age of 25.43 years (SD = ± 6.87) were enrolled. Overall, 14 (3.7%) and 8 (2.1%) voluntary counseling and testing clients were positive for human immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis C virus respectively. All Hepatitis C virus antibody positive individuals were males (3.8%). The sero-prevalence of Hepatitis C virus was significantly associated with the age group 41-50 years old (AOR = 65.65; 95% CI 4.57-943). Married study participants were also significantly associated with HIV infection (AOR = 7.92, 95% CI 1.32-47.31).

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV makeup a deadly synergy of infectious disease, and the combined effect is apparent in resource limited countries like Ethiopia. Previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent results about the protective effect of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) on active TB incidence among HIV positive patients receiving ART. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was, first, to determine the protective effect of IPT on active tuberculosis incidence, and second, to assess the pooled incidence of active TB among HIV positive patients taking ART with and without IPT intervention in Ethiopia., Methods: PubMed, Google scholar and Cochran library databases were searched from April 1 to 30, 2018. Two independent authors explored and assessed studies for eligibility, and extracted data based on predefined criteria. Studies that reported TB incidence among HIV positive patients taking ART in Ethiopia with and without IPT concomitant intervention, and with a clear stratified data on the incidence of TB based on the duration of IPT intervention were selected. A random effects model was used to estimate risk ratios and the pooled incident TB with the respective 95% confidence intervals., Results: We identified 7 suitable studies in this analysis. Accordingly, IPT reduced the risk of TB incidence by 74%, risk ratio (RR) 0.26 (95% CI; 0.16-0.43%), compared to no IPT group. Moreover, IPT for 12 months reduced incident TB by 91% (RR: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.21), whereas 6 months IPT averted TB incidence by 63% (RR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.52). The overall pooled incident TB among HIV infected patients receiving ART was 10.30% (95% CI; 7.57-13.02%). Specifically, incident TB among study cohorts with and without IPT was 3.79% (95% CI; 2.03-5.55%) and 16.32% (95% CI; 11.57-21.06%) respectively., Conclusion: IPT reduced the risk of incident TB among HIV positive patients receiving ART in Ethiopian settings. Moreover, the duration of IPT intervention has effect on its protective role. Thus, scaling up the isoniazid preventive therapy program and its strict compliance is necessary to avert HIV fueled tuberculosis., Study Protocol Registration: CRD42018090804.

Background: The initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) plays a significant role in the clinical management of HIV infected people by preventing morbidity and mortality. This benefit becomes, the most terrible when treatment failure develops. Thus, this research aims to assess the prevalence and associated factors of treatment failure among HIV/AIDS patients on HAART attending University of Gondar Referral Hospital Northwest Ethiopia., Results: Patients on ART with a minimum of 6 months and up to 12 years of treatment were being enrolled. The prevalence of treatment failure, immunological failure and virological failure among people living with HIV/AIDS attending University of Gondar referral hospital were 20.3, 13.2, and 14.7%, respectively. Patients who had no formal education (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 3.8; 95% CI, 1.05-13.77), primary level education (AOR: 4.2; 95% CI, 1.16-15.01) and duration on ART < 6 years (AOR: 2.1; 95%CI, 1.12-3.81) were a significant risk factor. However, initial adult regimen D4T +  3TC+ EFV (AOR: 0.025; 95% CI, 0.002-0.36), AZT +3TC + NVP (AOR: 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01-0.71), AZT +  3TC + EFV (AOR: 0.046; 95% CI, 0.004-0.57) andTDF+3TC + EFV (AOR: 0.04; 95% CI, 0.004-0.46) were significantly protective for treatment failure., Conclusions: Timely and early identification of associated factors and monitoring antiretroviral therapy treatment failure should be done to enhance the benefit and to prevent further complication of the patients. It is preferable to initiate ART using any one of the following ART regimens: AZT +3TC + NVP, AZT + 3TC + EFV and TDF + 3TC + EFV to prevent treatment failure. Since the prevalence of this treatment failure and its associated factor may be different from other ART centers and community in Ethiopia, further national representative institutional based cross-sectional researches are needed across all ART centers of Ethiopia in order to determine the prevalence of treatment failure and its associated factors.

Background: Multidrug drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major health problem and seriously threatens TB control and prevention efforts globally. Ethiopia is among the 30th highest TB burden countries for MDR-TB with 14% prevalence among previously treated cases. The focus of this study was on determining drug resistance patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among MDR-TB suspected cases and associated risk factors., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Addis Ababa from June 2015 to December 2016. Sputum samples and socio-demographic data were collected from 358 MDR-TB suspected cases. Samples were analyzed using Ziehl-Neelsen technique, GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay, and culture using Lowenstein-Jensen and Mycobacterial growth indicator tube. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23., Results: A total of 226 the study participants were culture positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, among them, 133 (58.8%) participants were males. Moreover, 162 (71.7%) had been previously treated for tuberculosis, while 128 (56.6%) were TB/HIV co-infected. A majority [122 (54%)] of the isolates were resistant to any first-line anti-TB drugs. Among the resistant isolates, 110 (48.7%) were determined to be resistant to isoniazid, 94 (41.6%) to streptomycin, 89 (39.4%) to rifampicin, 72 (31.9%) to ethambutol, and 70 (30.9%) to pyrazinamide. The prevalence of MDR-TB was 89 (39.4%), of which 52/89 (58.4%) isolates were resistance to all five first-line drugs. Risk factors such as TB/HIV co-infection (AOR = 5.59, p = 0.00), cigarette smoking (AOR = 3.52, p = 0.045), alcohol drinking (AOR = 5.14, p = 0.001) hospital admission (AOR = 3.49, p = 0.005) and visiting (AOR = 3.34, p = 0.044) were significantly associated with MDR-TB., Conclusions: The prevalence of MDR-TB in the study population was of a significantly high level among previously treated patients and age group of 25-34. TB/HIV coinfection, smoking of cigarette, alcohol drinking, hospital admission and health facility visiting were identified as risk factors for developing MDR-TB. Therefore, effective strategies should be designed considering the identified risk factors for control of MDR-TB., Competing Interests: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest associated with the publication of this manuscript.

Background: In correctional settings tuberculosis is a public health concern. The incarcerated population is at greater risk for tuberculosis (TB) than the general population. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and associated risk factors in prison settings., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among prisoners of North Gondar zone where all inmates with a history of cough for ≥ 2 weeks were included. Socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Spot-morning-spot sputum samples were collected, smears were prepared and stained with Auramine O stain and examined through light emitting diode- fluorescence microscope. All samples positive for acid-fast bacilli were further examined by GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and a P-value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. The multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between risk factors and prison tuberculosis., Results: A total of 282 prison inmates suspected of PTB were enrolled in the study. The overall prevalence of smear positive PTB infection was 5.3 % (15/282), but none of the smear positive TB cases were resistant to rifampicin. The prevalence of HIV infection among TB suspected prisoners and smear positive PTB cases was 6 and 27 %, respectively. Moreover, smear positive PTB disease was significantly associated with smoking status, malnutrition, number of prison inmates per cell, poor cell ventilation, and a history of contact with TB patients., Conclusion: The prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis among north Gondar prison inmates was still high although lower than previous reports. There was a high prevalence of HIV among smear positive PTB cases. Reducing the burden of prison inmates in a particular cell, preventing malnutrition, establishing ventilation system can possibly minimize the transmission of tuberculosis among prisoners.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the globe's deadliest communicable diseases. The homeless individuals are at high risk to acquire TB and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), because of their poor living conditions and risky behaviors. Tuberculosis and MDR-TB in the homeless individuals can pose a risk to entire communities. However, the magnitude of the problem is not known in Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of smear positive pulmonary TB (PTB) and MDR-TB among homeless individuals in Dessie and Debre Birhan towns, Northeast Ethiopia., Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted from September 2014 to June 2015. Using an active screening with cough of ≥2 weeks, 351 TB suspects homeless individuals were participated in this study. Data were collected by using pre-tested and structured questionnaire. Spot-morning-spot sputum sample was collected and examined for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) using fluorescence microscopy by Auramine O staining technique. All AFB positive sputum was further analyzed by GeneXpert for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and rifampicin resistant gene. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied to identify factors associated with smear positive PTB and P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant., Results: The prevalence of smear positive PTB was 2.6 % (95 % CI 1.3-5) among TB suspect homeless individuals. Extrapolation of this study finding implies that there were 505 smear positive PTB per 100,000 homeless individuals. All smear positive PTB sputum specimens were further analyzed by GeneXpert assay, the assay confirmed that all were positive for MTBC but none were resistant to RIF or MDR. Smoking cigarette regularly for greater than 5 years (AOR 10.1, 95 % CI 1.1, 97.7), body mass index lower than 18.5 (AOR 6.9, 95 % CI 1.12, 41.1) and HIV infection (AOR 6.8, 95 % CI 1.1, 40.1) were significantly associated with smear positive PTB., Conclusion: The prevalence of smear positive PTB among TB suspect homeless individuals was 2.6 %. Among smear positive PTB, prevalence of HIV co-infection was very high 5 (55.5 %). Smoking cigarette regularly for greater than 5 years, BMI lower than 18.5 and HIV infection were factors associated with smear positive PTB. Special emphasis is needed for homeless individuals to exert intensive effort to identify undetected TB cases to limit the circulation of the disease into the community.

Background: Ethiopia is one of the countries that are highly affected by dual epidemics of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB). HIV infection is a known risk factor for the development of active TB and it challenges in diagnosis and treatment of TB. Thus, it is essential to determine the epidemiology of HIV infection among TB patients to guide clinical actions and inform the policy makers. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of HIV infection among TB patients and to describe the associated risk factors for HIV seropositivity., Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on TB registries at Metema Hospital directly observed therapy short-course (DOTS) clinic. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association of HIV seropositivity among TB patients. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. P value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant., Results: Of the total 2096 patients, 2005 (95.7%) were tested for HIV. The overall HIV-TB co-infection rate was 20.1% (404), 12.3% (246) in males and 7.9% (158) in females. The highest proportion of co-infection rate was observed among the patients in the age group of 25-34 years (32.4%) and smear negative pulmonary TB patients (59.7%). A declining trend of HIV-TB co-infection was observed during the study period, from 22.1% (185) in 2009/10 to 12.8% (52) in 2011/12 (X(2) = 17.07, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: This study found that HIV-TB co-infection is still high in the Metema area; and occurs more frequently in males than females, and among patients in age group of 25-34 years. Thus, concerted efforts and interventions methods that target these at risk groups are recommended.

Background: Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis (EPTB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection are interrelated as a result of immune depression. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates and the burden of HIV co-infection among EPTB suspected patients., Method: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among EPTB suspected patients at the University of Gondar Hospital. Socio-demographic characteristics and other clinical data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay was performed to diagnosis Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Rifampicin resistance. All samples were also investigated by cytology and culture. The HIV statuses of all patients were screened initially by KHB, and all positive cases were further re-tested by STAT-pack. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 computer software and a P-value of < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant., Results: A total of 141 extrapulmonary suspected patients were enrolled in this study. The overall prevalence of culture confirmed extrapulmonary tuberculosis infection was 29.8%, but the GeneXpert result showed a 26.2% prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection. The 78.4% prevalence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis infection was found to be higher among the adult population. The prevalence of HIV infection among EPTB suspected patients was 14.1%, while it was 32.4% among GeneXpert-confirmed extrapulmonary TB cases (12/37). Tuberculosis lymphadenitis was the predominant (78.4%) type of EPTB infection followed by tuberculosis cold abscess (10.7%). Adult hood, previous history of contact with known pulmonary tuberculosis patients, and HIV co-infection showed a statistically significant association with extrapulmonary tuberculosis infection (P<0.013)., Conclusion: The prevalence of culture confirmed-EPTB infection was high, and a higher EPTB-HIV co-infection was also observed.

Background. Bacterial sepsis is a major cause of illness in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients. There is scarce evidence about sepsis among HIV patients in Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the etiologic agents of bacterial sepsis and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among HIV infected patients. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out from March 1 to May 2, 2013. One hundred patients infected with HIV and suspected of having sepsis were included. Sociodemographic data were collected by interview and blood sample was aseptically collected from study participants. All blood cultures were incubated aerobically at 35°C and inspected daily for 7 days. The positive blood cultures were identified following the standard procedures and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using disk diffusion technique. Data was entered by Epi-info version 3.5.1 and analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results. Of the study participants, 31 (31%) confirmed bacterial sepsis. The major isolates were 13 (13%) Staphylococcus aureus, 8 (8%) coagulates negative staphylococci, and 3 (3%) viridans streptococci. Majority of the isolates, 25 (80.6%), were multidrug resistant to two or more antimicrobial agents. Conclusions. Bacterial sepsis was a major cause of admission for HIV infected patients predominated by Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci species and most of the isolates were multidrug resistant.

Background: Voluntary HIV counseling and testing allows individuals to know their HIV status and serve as a key strategy entry point to prevention, treatment, care and support services. Voluntary counselling and HIV testing have become an increasingly important area of HIV prevention and care in Ethiopia., Objective: To assess the current Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) service in Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia in terms of physical facilities, client's satisfaction on VCT services and counselor's perception., Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in 37 VCT centers. A total of 45 counselors and 222 VCT clients who came to get VCT services participated in the study. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information on the physical facilities, client's satisfaction and counselor's perception on the services., Results: All VCT service delivery rooms were small in size and more than half of the VCT rooms were poorly ventilated. None of them had behavior change communication (BCC) or information education and communication (IEC) materials for teaching clients. Most counselors thought that they had not received in-service training supervision and support. Clients with high educational status were less willing to get VCT Though clients were dissatisfied with the physical facilities of the VCT centers, they also expressed feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment during counseling. Thirteen of the counselors were community counselors. The most important reason for seeking VCT services were found to be fear of being exposed for HIV infection. Females were more likely to be motivated of perception of own high risk sexual behaviour than males (P value = 0.0001)., Conclusion: The physical facilities and VCT procedures in many of the VCT centers were below satisfactory. A large number of people visit VCT despite the poor facilities and procedures in most VCT centers. This study augmented information to the literature on motivation for HIV testing and introduction of community counsellors in Ethiopia. However, to provide good quality VCT service, accessible physical facilities and VCT procedures need to be improved

Background: Transfusion-transmissible infectious agents such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis are among the greatest threats to blood safety for the recipient. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence, risk factors and trends of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections among blood donors over a period of five years at Gondar University Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia., Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive blood donors' records covering the period between January 2003 and December 2007 was conducted. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors associated with HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections., Results: From the total of 6361 consecutive blood donors, 607 (9.5%) had serological evidence of infection with at least one pathogen and 50 (0.8%) had multiple infections. The overall seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis was 3.8%, 4.7%, 0.7%, and 1.3% respectively. Among those with multiple infections, the most common combinations were HIV-syphilis 19 (38%) and HIV-HBV 17 (34%). The seropositivity of HIV was significantly increased among female blood donors, first time donors, housewives, merchants, soldiers, drivers and construction workers. Significantly increased HBV seropositivity was observed among farmers, first time donors and age groups of 26 - 35 and 36 - 45 years. Similarly, the seroprevalence of syphilis was significantly increased among daily labourers and construction workers. Statistically significant association was observed between syphilis and HIV infections, and HCV and HIV infections. Moreover, significantly declining trends of HIV, HCV and syphilis seropositivity were observed over the study period., Conclusions: A substantial percentage of the blood donors harbour HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections. Strict selection of blood donors and comprehensive screening of donors' blood using standard methods are highly recommended to ensure the safety of blood for recipient.

Background: VCT is a key component of the HIV/AIDS prevention and control interventions in Ethiopia. However, very little is known about the profile and HIV prevalence among VCT clients, in Burie, west Gojjam. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess sero-prevalence of HIV infection among VCT clients and to describe their socio-demographic profile., Methods: A retrospective analysis of data taken from VCT clients' records in Burie health center, west Gojjam, Ethiopia from September 1, 2006 to January 30, 2007 was done using SPSS software version 13., Results: Among 989 VCT clients, 133 (13.4%) were HIV sero-positive of whom 75 (56.4%) were females which was strongly associated (OR 1.67, 95%CI 1.15-2.41, p = 0.007) with HIV sero-positivity. HIV infection was higher in those individuals who have got married (OR 2.83, 95%CI 1.70-4.71, p<0.001) and coupled before marriage (OR 3.88, 95%CI 2.47-6.09, p<0.001). Prevalence of HIV was found to be higher in employed (OR 2.80, 95%CI 1.54-5.09, p<0.001), daily labors (OR 5.14, 95%CI 2.96-8.95, p<0.001), and house wives (OR 8.34, 95%CI 3.98-17.48, p<0.001)., Conclusion: We found higher sero-positivity rate of HIV in the setting and this VCT based report will be highly useful for further operation and initiation of the community to have voluntary counseling and testing in the region. We also recommended that sentinel based surveillance since client initiated VCT data may not be appropriate for better monitoring HIV epidemics.

Ethiopia is one of the countries in which sexually transmitted infections are highly prevalent. However, the data needed to present a realistic picture of the infections are lacking. This study was therefore designed to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis and HIV-1 among pregnant women at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital. A prospective cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted between March and June, 2005. Blood samples were collected from 480 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of the hospital. Sera were tested for syphilis using the Rapid Plasma Regain (RPR) and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) kits, and serostatus for HIV infection was checked using rapid HIV diagnostic test kits following the manufacturers' instructions. The mean (+/-SD) age of the study participants was 26.1 (+/-7.2) years. The seroprevalence of syphilis was 1%. Antibodies against HIV-1 were detected in 9.6% of the pregnant women. A higher HIV-1 prevalence (13%) was observed in the 25- to 29-year-old age group followed by the 30- to 34-year-old age group (10.2%). Only one subject (2.2%) was found to be positive for both HIV-1 and syphilis. The data indicated a relatively declined prevalence of syphilis and HIV-1 among pregnant women in an urban antenatal clinic. However, incidence and behavioral studies are required to substantiate the findings.

Introduction: HIV p24 antigen-positive T cells measured by flow cytometry (FCM) correlate directly with HIV viral load, inversely with CD4+ T cells, and decrease with antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, the sensitivity of FCM assays depends on the protocol of intracellular staining. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of our FCM protocol for detection of HIV p24-positive T cells and measure the level of immunocheckpoint molecules (PD1 and TIM3) in T cells. Methods: The study was conducted at the University of Leipzig hospital between January 2020 and November 2020. Viremic and ART-suppressed HIV-positive patients and negative controls were included in this study. HIV1 p24 KC57-, p24 28B7-, PD1-, and TIM3-positive CD4 and CD3 T cells were analyzed from whole blood using a BD FACS Canto II flow cytometer equipped with FACSDiva software. HIV1 p24 antigen FCM results were compared with HIV1 RNA viral load results measured by Alinity M assays on the fully automated random-access platform. We analyzed the data using SPSS 20. Results: The absolute CD4+ and CD4+:CD8+ T-cells ratio showed a significant inverse correlation with HIV1 viral load. Moreover, the absolute CD4+ T-cells count showed a significant inverse correlation with p24 KC57-positive CD4 T cells. The percentage of p24 KC57, p24 28B7, and double-positive CD4 T cells showed significant correlation with HIV1 viral load. PD1 expressing CD4 T cells were higher in ART-viremic cases than controls, while TIM3-expressing CD4 T cells were lower in ART-viremic cases than controls. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of p24 KC57-positive CD4 T cells were 64%, 82%, 78%, and 69%, respectively, for the diagnosis of HIV infection and 55%, 73%, 40%, and 83%, respectively, for treatment monitoring. Conclusion: Our protocol showed moderate performance for the diagnosis of HIV infection and treatment monitoring. Therefore, the p24 KC57 but not the p24 28B7 clone could be considered as a simple alternative method for rapid diagnosis of HIV infections and treatment monitoring, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]