Intensity of infection and reinfection rate of A. lumbricoides in a rural farming village, Dembia district, northwest Ethiopia.

The purpose of this study was to determine the intensity of infection and reinfection rate of A. lumbricoides at a village in Dumbia District, Northwest Ethiopia. It was done in June 1992 and repeated in June 1993. Among 192 examined for intestinal parasites, the prevalence rate was 60.9%. Infection with A. lumbricoides was 34.4%. Children in the age-group 1-4 years had the highest egg count (arithmetic mean of 3040 eggs per gram of stool) for A. lumbricoides. Reinfection rate after 11 months among those treated against A. lumbricoides was 53%. The study has an important implication in understanding the local epidemiology of A. lumbricoides and in the design of community-based control programmes.

The burden of inpatient neurologic disease in two Ethiopian hospitals.

OBJECTIVES: To define the burden of inpatient neurologic disease seen in Ethiopian teaching hospitals. METHODS: We reviewed records of all medical inpatients admitted over a 6-month period to two teaching hospitals, one with and one without neurologists. RESULTS: Neurologic cases made up 18.0% and 24.7% of all medical admissions. The mortality rates were 21.8% and 34.7%. Noninfectious diseases were 36.7% and 31.7% of neurologic cases, but unknown etiologies made up 42.2% and 29.0% of all cases. Of total cases, only 42.9% and 24.1% had at least a high level of diagnostic certainty. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with neurologic disease make up a substantial minority of medical inpatients in Ethiopia. Noninfectious neurologic disease is at least as common as infectious neurologic disease. Reaching a well-defined final diagnosis occurs in only a minority of cases. Areas for improving the mortality rate include improving the barriers to diagnostic certainty and increasing treatment options for Ethiopian patients.