Knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 among government employees in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Background:Knowledge and perceptions of the public about the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) play a critical role in the prevention of the disease through adopting effective preventive measures. The aim of this study wasto assess the knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 as well as the source of information about the disease among government employees.Methods:A cross-sectional survey of 1,573 government employees from 46 public institutions located in Addis Ababawas undertaken from 8thto 19thJune 2020.Systematicrandom sampling or consecutive sampling techniques were used to select the study participants. Paper-based self-administeredquestionnaires were used for data collection.ANOVA test and t-test wereused to assess the difference between the groups. Results:The respondents demonstrated very high knowledge of the cause of COVID-19 (93%), its main clinical symptoms (>90%), modes of transmission (89%), and the main preventive measures (>90%).Almost all respondents reportedthat people with travel history (86.8%) or people with closecontact with COVID-19 patients (93.5%) were at higher risk to coronavirusinfection. About 51% of the participants reported that people without travel history or people who had no contact with confirmed cases werealso at risk of infection. About 84% of the respondents perceived those older adults above 60 years were most at risk to die from COVID-19. Themajority of the respondents reported that adults with other underlying health problems (95.4%), cigarette smokers (88.1%) and substanceusers (87.5%) were more likely to die from the disease.Television (32.2%) and health workers (30.5%) constituted the most trusted sources of information related to COVID-19.Conclusions:This study has found higherlevelsof knowledge and perceptionsamong respondents about COVID-19. Efforts should be focused on improving the knowledge, perceived susceptibility, severity, and benefits of preventive measuresby providing timely and adequate informationthrough trusted sources of information.

Building a COVID-19 repository website for healthcare professionals in Ethiopia

Health professionals dealing with the COVID-19, both in clinical care and in the public health domain, require up-to-date and relevant scientific information. The Diaspora and Ethiopian Advisory Councils on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia joined forces with the Ethiopian Medical Association to create a local repository of compre-hensive peer-screened information on COVID-19. We describe the motivating factors for such a repository, the process of creating the website, and the utilization of this information resource for Ethiopian healthcare professionals.

Actors associated with treatment outcome of pediatric cancer patients admitted with febrile neutropenia in Tikuranbessa specialized teaching hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Cancer treatment is associated with variable degrees of myelosupression. Infection is often a life-threatening complication of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, and it is also considered an oncologic emergency. Febrile neutropenia is a common, costly and potentially fatal complication in oncology.Objective: To assess factors affecting treatment outcome of cancer patients with chemotherapy induced febrile neutropenia.Method: We conducted a review of records of pediatric patients hospitalized and treated for chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 and met the selection criteria.Result: A total of 60 patients (36 males and 24 females) fulfilled the selection criteria. Twelve of them died while in hospital. The mean (SD) age of patients who died was 4.78 (±2.48) years and the mean (SD) hospital stay before death was 20.2 (±5.26) days. Ten children had hematologic malignancy and two had a solid tumor. Ten of the 12 patients had an absolute neutrophil count of less than 100/mm3 (p=0.008, OR=20.3) and a platelet count of less than 50,000/mm3. Six of the 10 children (10%) had sepsis. Patients with profound neutropenia, platelet count of less than 50,000 and sepsis were more likely to die (P=0.048, OR=7).Conclusion: The result of this study showed that absolute neutrophil count of less than 100/mm3, platelet count of less than 50,000/mm3 and a diagnosis of sepsis were factors affecting outcome patients with febrile neutropenia. Careful evaluation of these factors and assessing severity of patients' clinical condition at time of admission can be useful for triaging children with febrile neutropenia