Challi Jira

Assessment of Effective Coverage of HIV Prevention of Pregnant Mother to Child Transimission Services in Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia

Background Presence of microorganisms in the circulating blood whether continuously or intermittently is a threat to every organ in the body. Approximately 200,000 cases of bacteraemia occur annually with mortality rates ranging from 20–50%. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of these infections can make the difference between life and death. The aim of the present study was to determine the bacterial flora of the blood stream infections and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted on 260 adult febrile patients in Jimma University Specialized Hospital from 27 October 2009 to 26 March 2010. The positive blood cultures were examined and the organisms were identified as per standard procedures. Antimicrobial testing was performed for all isolates by disk diffusion techniques, according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guide lines. The data was analyzed using SPSS for windows version 16 and Microsoft Office Excel. Results From the total of two hundred sixty blood specimens only 23(8.8%) were positive to seven different types of bacteria. The isolated bacteria were: Coagulase negative staphylococci 6(26.1%), S. aureus 5 (21.7%), S. pyogens 3 (13.0%), E. coli 4(17.4%), K. pneumoniae 3(13.0%), Salmonella spp. 1(4.3%), and Citrobacter spp. 1(4.3%). The isolates showed high rates of resistance to most antibiotics tested. The range of resistance for gram positive bacteria were 0% to 85.7%, and for gram negative from 0% to 100%. None of the isolates were resistance to ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone. Conclusion Our study result showed the presence of invasive bacterial pathogens with high rate of resistance to most commonly used antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections. Therefore, timely investigation of bacterial flora of the blood stream infections and monitoring of their antibiotic resistance pattern plays an important role in reduction of the incidence of blood stream infections.

Predictors of chronic food insecurity among adolescents in Southwest Ethiopia: a longitudinal study

BackgroundEvidence on the differential impacts of the global food crisis as it translates into chronic food insecurity locally is essential to design food security interventions targeting the most vulnerable population groups. There are no studies on the extent of chronic food insecurity or its predictors among adolescents in developing countries. In the context of increased food prices in Ethiopia, we hypothesized that adolescents in low income urban households are more likely to suffer from chronic food insecurity than those in the rural areas who may have direct access to agricultural products.MethodsThis report is based on data from the first two rounds of the Jimma Longitudinal Family Survey of Youth (JLFSY). Both adolescents and households were selected using a stratified random sampling method. A total of 1911 adolescents aged 13-17 years were interviewed on their personal experiences of food insecurity both at baseline and at year two. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to compare chronic adolescent food insecurity by household income, household food insecurity, and socio-demographic variables after one year of follow-up.ResultsOverall, 20.5% of adolescents were food insecure in the first round survey, while the proportion of adolescents with food insecurity increased to 48.4% one year later. During the one year follow up period, more than half (54.8%) of the youth encountered transient food insecurity – that is, either during the first or the second round survey. During the follow up period, 14.0% of adolescents had chronic food insecurity (i.e. were food insecure at both rounds). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that adolescents in the urban households with low (OR = 1.69, P = 0.008) and middle (OR = 1.80, P = 0.003) income tertiles were nearly twice as likely to suffer from chronic food insecurity compared with those in high income tertile, while this was not the case in rural and semi-urban households. Female sex of adolescents (P < 0.01), high dependency ratio (P < 0.05) and household food insecurity (P < 0.001) were independent predictors of chronic adolescent food insecurity in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas, while educational status of the adolescents was negatively associated with chronic food insecurity (OR = 0.047, P = 0.002) in urban areas.ConclusionsIn the context of increased food prices, household income is an independent predictor of chronic food insecurity only among adolescents in the low income, urban households. Female gender, educational status of primary or less and being a member of households with high dependency ratio were independent predictors of chronic food insecurity in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas. The fact that the prevalence of chronic food insecurity increased among adolescents who are members of chronically food insecure urban households as income tertiles decreased suggests that the resilience of buffering is eroded when purchasing power diminishes and food resources are dwindling. Food security interventions should target urban low income households to reduce the level of chronic food insecurity and its consequences.

Better-Educated Youth as a Vanguard of Social Change? Adolescent Transitions to Later Marriage and Lower Fertility in Southwest Ethiopia

In this chapter, we illustrate the process of social change through an examination of two markers of the transition to adulthood in Ethiopia: (1) entry into marriage, and (2) desired family size. The data include 2084 in-school youths aged between 13 and 17 years from the urban and rural areas of Jimma Zone of Southwest Ethiopia. We investigate how youths’ own perceived individual aspirations and lifetime goals (i.e. agency) are associated with increased levels of education. Coupled with parental expectations and family and community context, these inform youth about the timing of the transition to adulthood. Our findings show that community norms of family formation and the level of socioeconomic development in their community are strong predictors of life course plans. Even though social identity also appears to affect how the youth envision their life course plans, agency, as conceptualized by the “capability approach”, seems to have little impact on this cohorts’ family formation plans. Thus, it appears that youth’s desires to benefit from the expanding educational and occupational opportunities by reinterpreting family formations norms, e.g., by delaying marriage, have not yet been incorporated in the youths’ life course planning (perhaps due to stringent social mores, as exemplified by the statistical significance of community norms as a predictor of life course plans). Addressing this palpable cohort-disparity between youths’ perception of expanded opportunities and that of their parents who lived through relatively limited opportunities is crucial in enhancing the benefits of the recent structural investments in human capital in the region.