Prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal parasitic infections among children in pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in the Adadle woreda of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) can cause illness, morbidity, and occasional mortality in children. Agro-pastoralist and pastoralist children in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (ESRS) are especially at risk for IPIs, as access to safe water, sanitation, and health services is lacking. Minimal data on the prevalence of IPIs and associated risk factors exists in this region. METHODOLOGY: We assessed the prevalence of IPIs and associated risk factors during the wet season from May-June 2021 in 366 children aged 2 to 5 years in four agro-pastoralist and four pastoralist kebeles (wards) in Adadle woreda (district) of the Shebelle zone, ESRS. Household information, anthropometric measurements, and stool samples were obtained from included children. Parasites were identified microscopically using Kato-Katz and direct smear methods. Risk factors were assessed using general estimating equation models accounting for clustering. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Overall prevalence of IPIs was 35%: 30.6% for single infections and 4.4% for poly-parasitic infections. Intestinal protozoan prevalence was 24.9%: 21.9% Giardia intestinalis, and 3.0% Entamoeba spp.. Intestinal helminth prevalence was 14.5%: 12.8% Ascaris lumbricoides, 1.4% hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale /Necator americanus.), and 0.3% Hymenolepis nana. G. intestinalis infection was associated with drinking water sourced from the river (aOR 15.6, 95%CI 6.84, 35.4) and from collected rainwater (aOR 9.48, 95%CI 3.39, 26.5), with toilet sharing (aOR 2.93, 95%CI 1.36, 6.31) and with household ownership of cattle (1-5 cattle: aOR 1.65, 95%CI 1.13, 2.41; 6+ cattle: aOR 2.07, 95%CI 1.33, 3.21) and chickens (aOR 3.80, 95%CI 1.77, 8.17). A. lumbricoides infection was associated with children 36 to 47 months old (aOR 1.92, 95%CI 1.03, 3.58). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Adadle and employing a One Health approach would likely improve the health of children living in (agro-) pastoralist communities in Adadle and the ESRS; however, further studies are required.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of integrated studies on antimicrobial resistance genes in Africa-A One Health perspective.

BACKGROUND: Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) raises serious health and financial concerns. However, the main drivers of the emergence, spread and subsequent colonisation of resistant bacterial strains between humans, animals and the environment are still poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to identify molecular studies on AMR in One Health settings in Africa and to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes in humans, animals and the environment. Due to the very low number of studies including environmental samples, the meta-analysis only includes data obtained from animals and humans. METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched, identifying 10 464 publications on AMR in Africa from January 1st, 2000 until June 1st, 2020. Inclusion criteria were: (i) Integrated studies assessing AMR simultaneously in an animal-human, animal-environment, human-environment or animal-human-environment context, (ii) Genotypic characterisation of AMR and (iii) temporal and spatial relationship between samples from humans and animals. Statistical random-effects model meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS: Overall, 18 studies met our eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Six studies investigated Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. (N = 6). The most prevalent AMR genes in animals included sul1 (36.2%), sul2 (32.0%), tetA (31.5%), strB (30.8%) and blaTEM (30.0%), whereas sul2 (42.4%), tetA (42.0%), strB (34.9%), blaTEM (28.8%) and sul1 (27.8%) were most prevalent in humans. We observed no clear pattern for a higher prevalence in either the animal or the human reservoir. CONCLUSION: To date, data on AMR in a One Health perspective in Africa are scarce. Prospective and longitudinal studies using an integrated One Health approach assessing the environment, animals and humans at the same time are needed to better understand the main drivers of AMR sharing in Africa.