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Zemen Mengesha Yalew,1 Yibeltal Asmamaw Yitayew,2 Ebrahim Seid Mohammed,3 Tesfaye Bezabih Gezihagne3 1Department of Comprehensive Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia; 3Department of Journalism and Communication, College of Social Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Yibeltal Asmamaw Yitayew Email yibie.asmamaw21@gmail.comBackground: Despite the efforts made to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, new cases continue to rise. Therefore, to overcome the devastating effects of the outbreak, health communication and the community’s knowledge, perception, and behavioral responses towards COVID-19 should be assessed.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from June 15 to July 30, 2020, with 827 and 18 participants for the quantitative and qualitative study, respectively. The data were collected using ODK collect and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was computed, and variables that had a significant association were interpreted at p < 0.05 with a 95% CI. Additionally, the qualitative data were collected using in-depth interview and then transcribed, translated, and analyzed using thematic content analysis.Results: The majority (97.8%) of respondents obtained information about COVID-19 through broadcast media, and 58.5% of the participants had good knowledge of COVID-19. Likewise, 51.3%, 60.9%, 73.8%, 35.1%, and 74.2% of participants had high perceived susceptibility, severity, benefit, barrier, and self-efficacy to COVID-19, respectively. Additionally, 54.3% of respondents had good behavioral responses to COVID-19. Kombolcha town residents (AOR: 4.32, 95% CI, 2.02– 9.2), aged from 25 to 34, and 35 to 44 years old (AOR: 2.62, 95% CI, 1.37– 5.0), and (AOR: 2.23, 95%

Desalegn Abebaw Jember,1 Zeleke Argaw Menji,2 Yibeltal Asmamaw Yitayew3 1Department of Pediatric Nursing, St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 2College of Nursing and Midwifery, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 3Department of Pediatric and Child Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wollo University, Dessie, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Yibeltal Asmamaw Yitayew Email yibie.asmamaw@gmail.comBackground: Globally, more than 20.5 million infants are born with low birth weight, and the majorities were from Asia and Africa. Even though efforts were made to reduce low birth weight worldwide, it remains a global public health problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.Objective: To assess low birth weight and associated factors among newborn babies in health institutions in Dessie, Amhara, Ethiopia.Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 358 newborn/mother pairs from March 1 to April 15, 2017, in Dessie town health institutions. The data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer-guided questionnaire. The numbers of newborn/mother pairs surveyed from each health institution were allocated proportionally, and systematic random sampling was used to select the respondents. Epi-info version 7.0 was used for data entry, and Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 was used for the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression with adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were used to identify significantly associated variables with low birth weight.Results: In this study, the prevalence of low birth weight was 15.6%. Maternal age < 20 years (AOR: 3.78, 95% CI, 1.02– 13.97), rural residence (AOR: 3.49, 95% CI, 1.48– 8.24), having antenatal care follow-up (AOR: 3.79, 95% CI, 1.08– 13.23), gestational age < 37 weeks (AOR: 3.82, 95% CI, 1.55– 9.42), and females (AOR: 3.37, 95% CI, 1.17– 9.72) were significan

Yibeltal Asmamaw Yitayew,1 Daniel Mengistu Bekele,2 Birhanu Wondimeneh Demissie,3 Zeleke Argaw Menji2 1Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia; 2School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 3Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Birhanu Wondimeneh DemissieDepartment of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, EthiopiaEmail birhanuwondimeneh@gmail.comBackground: Vertical transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the primary route of infection among children. Ethiopia is among the top ten countries in the world with the highest burden of HIV infections among children. Therefore we aimed to assess mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and associated factors among HIV exposed infants (HEIs).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using retrospective data collected from HEIs paired with their mothers who had received the services in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs from January 2014 to December 2017 in public health facilities in Dessie town. Data of a total of 313 HEIs paired with their mothers were obtained by using semi-structured data extraction proforma from their medical records. The data were processed in Epi-info version 7.1.2.0 and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Crude and adjusted odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals and p-value were used to identify significant factors.Results: The prevalence of HIV among exposed infants was 3.8%. Absence of maternal antenatal care visit (AOR = 4.6, 95% CI: 1.17–17.99), home delivery (AOR = 4.2, 95% CI: 1.04 −16.76), absence of antiretroviral intervention to the mother (AOR= 5.7, 95% CI: 1.10–29.36), and failure to initiate nevirapine prophylaxis for the infant (AOR = 5.3, 95% CI: 1.11 −25