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Background: Poor food hygiene practices in developing nations like Ethiopia pose a significant public health threat by increasing the likelihood of food-borne infections. In the study area, there is a lack of comprensive information regarding the hygienic standards and associated factors influcncing the food hygienic practices of street food vendors. Therefore, this study aims to assess food hygienic practices and related variables among street food vendors in Bishoftu town, central Ethiopia. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 16, 2023 to August 16, 2023, involving 210 street food vendors selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Descriptive statistics like mean, frequency, and percentages were used. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the significance of the relationship between each independent and dependent variables. The strength of the association was calculated using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and the 95 % CI and a p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The finding of this study revealed that about 64.8 % and 35.2 % of the street food vendors had good and poor food hygiene practices, respectively. Variables such as being female [AOR = 0.191, 95 % CI (0.043, 0.840)], having rich experience in food vending [AOR = 5.793, 95%CI (1.419, 23.649)], maintaining a clean environment [AOR = 2.860, 95%CI (1.484, 5.512)], and possessing knowledge of food hygiene [AOR = 2.726, 95 % CI (1.317, 5.643)] were significantly associated with the food hygiene practices of street vendors. Conclusion: The level of food hygiene practice observed among street food vendors in the study area was lower compared to other study findings conducted in different regions of Ethiopia. Significant factors influencing these hygiene practices were sex, food vending experience, environment, and knowledge. Therefore, current national regulations must be revised to address the existing gaps and enhance food safety procedures for street food vendors nationwide.

Background: This study aims to assess factors associated with food security and dietary diversity among poor urban households of western Oromia, Ethiopia, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: A cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted in May to June 2021 with 361 poor urban households in the Horo Guduru Wollega zone, western Oromia, Ethiopia. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Twenty-four hour reminder points were used to assess household dietary diversity, and household food security was assessed using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale tool. Data were evaluated using the statistical software SPSS version 25.0. Results: This study showed a prevalence of food insecurity in households of 59.6%. The mean and standard deviation of household dietary diversity values were 4.19 ± 1.844. Family size (AOR = 8.5; 95% CI:3.295–21.92), monthly income (AOR = 3.52; 95% CI; 1.771–6.986), dietary diversity (AOR = 8.5; 95% CI; 3.92–18.59), knowledge (AOR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.08–)8.347), attitude (AOR = 8.35, 95% CI:3.112–22.39) and practices against Covid-19 (AOR = 2.12; 95% CI:1.299–11.4) were factors significantly associated with food insecurity. Variables like educational status (AOR = 3.46; 95% CI:1.44–8.312), increased family size after the Covid-19 pandemic (AOR = 2.26; 95% CI:1.02–5.04), food security (AOR = 6.7; 95% CI:4.01–19.01), knowledge (AOR = 3.96; 95% CI:1.57–10.0), attitude (AOR = 3.9; 95% CI:1.75–8.82) and practices toward coronavirus (AOR = 2.23; 95% CI:2.18–23.95) were predictors significantly associated with dietary diversity. Conclusion: This study concluded that family size, monthly income, and dietary diversity were factors contributed to household food security. On the other hand, variables such as educational status, family size, and food security were highly relevant factors for dietary diversity after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices were also variables related to both household food security and dietary diversity. Therefore, immediate interventions such as nutrition-specific interventions can be suggested to address food insecurity and problems of inadequate food intake in poor urban households. In addition, governmental and non-governmental organizations should raise awareness and policies to support those at higher risk by developing affordable, sustainable and targeted social protection systems that ensure food security and adequate dietary intake at the household level.

Background: Malaria remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Previous studies that assessed C-reactive protein (CRP) have centered on the conventional method. This study evaluated the usefulness of high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) in malaria diagnosis and morbidity in a pediatric population in Ghana., Methodology: A total of 267 subjects (100 microscopically proven nonmalarial parasitaemics as controls and 167 plasmodium parasitaemic subjects as cases), between the ages of 7 months and 18 years, were recruited for this case-control study. Blood samples were collected for malaria parasite density by microscopic examination; full blood count, electrolytes, and liver function tests using an automated analyzer; and hs-CRP levels by sandwich ELISA method., Results: The median hs-CRP concentration was lowest in the control group and increased significantly from low to high parasitaemia. The median hs-CRP level was significantly higher in high malaria parasitaemia compared to moderate and low malaria parasitaemia. Increasing hs-CRP cutoff (3.12-4.64 mg/L) presented with increasing specificity (79.3-93.1%) and sensitivity (96.4%-97.4%), except for moderate parasitaemia where a decline in sensitivity (80.9%) was observed. However, hs-CRP had relatively lower PPV but high NPV at low parasitaemia while both the PPV and NPV were moderate in moderate parasitaemia., Conclusion: hs-CRP yielded a high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for low, moderate, and high-grade malaria, respectively, and thus may serve as an effective supplementary diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for Plasmodium parasite infection. However, hs-CRP might not be readily useful yet for diagnostic purposes in hospitals due to the relatively low PPV and NPV for low and moderate parasitaemia and thus necessitates further studies in larger cohorts.