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Background and Aims: A growing number of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients suffer from opportunistic intestinal coccidian infections. Instead of human immuno deficiency virus (HIV) infection itself, opportunistic infections like intestinal coccidian parasites cause death of over 80% AIDS patients. Factors like exposed drinking water sources and poverty aid the prevalence of opportunistic intestinal coccidian parasitic infections in HIV/AIDS patients. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal coccidian parasites and associated factors in HIV/AIDS patients. Methods: A health facility based cross sectional study was conducted from 140 HIV/AIDS patients attending ART clinic in Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia from September to December 2023. The sociodemographic characteristics were collected through face‐to‐face interviews. Stool samples were processed with Modified Acid Fast staining technique. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 20 was used to analyze the data. Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with dependent variable and p < 0.05 was considered significantly associated. Results: The total prevalence of opportunistic intestinal coccidian parasites (OICPs) in HIV/AIDS patients was 16.4% (23/140). Drinking surface water [p = 0.015, COR = 3.4] compared to tape water, drinking alcohol [p = 0.001, COR = 18] compared to not drinking alcohol, diarrhea [p = 0.005, COR = 1] compared to non‐diarrheic, drug dropout [p = 0.01, COR = 11] compared to regular drug intake and low CD4 count [p = 0.042, COR = 9] compared to CD4 > 500/µL showed significant association with increased prevalence of OICPs in HIV/AIDS patients. Conclusions: OICPs are still the common causes of morbidity and mortality in HIV/AIDS patients. Surface water consumption, alcoholism, interruption of treatment drugs, diarrhea, and reduced CD4+ T‐cells significantly contribute to acquisition and prevalence of OICPs in HIV/AIDS patients. Routine screening of OICPs with sensitive diagnostic techniques in HIV/AIDS patients regardless of symptoms is crucial and has to be practiced in health settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and treatable disease leading to the second death globally. The evolution of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), particularly rifampicin resistance (RR), has hampered TB control efforts. Thus, this study aimed to provide information regarding the magnitude of MTB and rifampicin resistance among patients tested using the GeneXpert method., Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out at DTCSH. The study included TB registration logbook data from all patients who visited the hospital and were tested for MTB with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay from 2017 to 2024. The laboratory-based data were entered, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 26 software. Multilogistic regression analysis was employed, and a p value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: A total of 12,981 patient results were included, of which 8.9% (1160/12,981) were MTB-positive and 7.1% (82/1160) were RR. Individuals aged 15-29 years (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.55-2.93, p < 0.001), living in rural areas (AOR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.08-1.41, p = 0.003), and HIV+ (AOR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.48-2.33, p < 0.001) had a higher risk of developing tuberculosis. While RR was identified in 63.4% (52/82) of new, 24.4% (20/82) of re-treated, and 12.2% (10/82) of failed presumptive TB patients., Conclusion: In this study, MTB and RR trends were high. Productive age groups, rural populations, and HIV patients were at risk. To lessen the burden of this contagious and fatal disease, it is recommended to increase early diagnosis of drug-resistant TB and enhance infection control., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Tuberculosis is a communicable disease, mainly caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Globally, TB is the ninth leading cause of death, with developing countries bearing most of the burden. The discovery of chemotherapy lead to significant improvements in patient survival. Therefore, this study aimed to assess Tuberculosis treatment outcomes and associated factors in South Gondar Administrative Zone Governmental Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2023., Method and Materials: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted from July 1 to August 30, 2022, at South Gondar zone public hospitals. The data was entered into Epi-data version 4 and exported to STATA version 14. A binary and multivariable logistic regression was computed at a 95% confidence interval. Variables with a p-value less than 0.25 in the bivariable analysis were chosen for multivariable logistic regression analysis, and variables having a p-value of less than 0.05 in the multivariable analysis, were considered to have significant associations with the dependent variable., Results: The study included 400 tuberculosis patients, and the overall successful treatment outcome was 89.0% (95% Confidence Interval: 85.5-91.7). In this study, study participants who tested positive for HIV were approximately three times more likely to have unsuccessful treatment outcomes (Adjusted odds ratio = 3.07; 95% Confidence Interval = 1.49-6.16.5; P = 0.002) relative to HIV-negative patients. On the other hand, patients with sputum-positive were more likely to have a successful treatment rate (Adjusted odds ratio = 0.08; 95% Confidence Interval = 0.011-0.638, P = 0.002) relative to sputum-negative TB patients., Conclusion: The overall treatment success rate was 89.0%, which was lower than the global milestone target of > 90% set for 2025, and the prevalence of TB-HIV coinfection was 16.5%. In this study, HIV-positive was negatively associated with successful treatment outcomes, and sputum positive was independently associated with successful tuberculosis treatment outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 Berhan et al.)