Scabies prevalence and its associated factors among prisoners in southern Ethiopia: An institution-based analytical cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Scabies is an ectoparasitic infestation that can easily spread during close human contact and in overcrowded areas such as prisons and public places where sanitation is a problem. Globally, as many as 300 million people are infested with scabies each year. Within Ethiopia, its burden in institutions like prisons is not well-studied. As a consequence, we sought to estimate the prevalence of scabies and also identify factors associated with it among prison inmates in southern Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution-based analytical cross-sectional study design was employed. We used, a simple random sampling technique to select 422 prisoners. A pretested-structured questionnaire was used to collect the necessary information. EpiData version 4.2.0.0 and Statistical Packages for Social Science version 25 software were used for data entry and analysis respectively. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. The model fitness was checked using the Hosmer-Lemeshow and omnibus tests. The association between the independent and outcome variables was presented in the form of a table showing the crude odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) along with their 95% confidence interval (CI). The level of statistical significance was declared at P.value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 418 prisoners were interviewed, yielding a 99.1% response rate. The age of the participants ranged from 17 to 60 years. As many as 381 (91.1%) participants were male. The prevalence of scabies was found to be 8.9%. A history of sexual contact in the past two months, before imprisonment (AOR: 9.92 (95% CI 3.07, 32.02), P <0.001), a period of stay less than two months duration in the prison (AOR: 4.54 (95% CI 1.51, 13.54), P = 0.007), poor ventilation (AOR: 3.36 (95% CI 1.07, 10.58), P = 0.038), lack of hygiene soap (AOR: 5.53 (95% CI 1.45, 21.17), P = 0.012), and sharing clothes among each other (AOR: 3.81 (95% CI (1.09, 13.29), P = 0.036) were factors independently associated with a scabies infestation. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found the prevalence of scabies was high among prison inmates in Wolaita Zone prison. Furthermore, scabies infestations were associated with a previous history of sexual contact, poorly ventilated rooms, lack of hygiene soaps for washing, and sharing clothes amongst the inmates. Prison administrations should be encouraged to improve sanitary and screening and isolation of prisoners during imprisonment.

Pattern of skin diseases in children attending a dermatology clinic in a referral hospital in Wolaita Sodo, southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies to determine the pattern of skin diseases among children are important for proper health care planning and management. The purpose of this study was to describe the pattern of skin diseases among pediatric patients seen at a dermatology outpatient clinic of Wolaita Sodo Teaching and Referral Hospital, southern Ethiopia. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective hospital-based, cross-sectional study between January 2016 and December 2017 at a teaching and referral hospital dermatology outpatient department. All children younger than 15 years presenting with newly-diagnosed skin diseases were included. Diagnosis was mainly made clinically, with some laboratory support. RESULTS: A total of 1704 children with 1869 new skin diagnoses were included, of whom 139 (8.2%) had more than one disease. Of the children, 52.4% were males and 44.9% within the age-group 5-10 years. Eczematous dermatitis accounted for the largest group (23.9%, n = 447) of skin conditions followed by bacterial infections (21.3%, n = 398), fungal infections (18.8%, n = 351) and infestations (9.9%, n = 185). Seasonal variation was demonstrated, with eczematous conditions and bacterial infections being higher during autumn and winter. CONCLUSION: Overall, eczema, bacterial and fungal infections were the three major pediatric skin diseases occurring among children attending this hospital's outpatient department. There was seasonal variation in some of the skin diseases. This study gives a snapshot of skin disorders presenting to hospital in children in southern Ethiopia and may help to plan dermatology service expansion, educational programs and preventive measures.