Determinants of immunological recovery following HAART among severely immunosuppressed patients at enrolment to care in Northern Ethiopia: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify determinants of immunological recovery following highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among severely immunosuppressed patients at enrolment to care in Northern Ethiopia. METHODS: A retrospective study. SETTING: The study was done in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: The study was done among severely immunosuppressed (<200 CD4 cells/mm3) individuals at initial enrolment to care and whose samples were sent for viral load determination from April 2015 to March 2019 in Tigray Health Research Institute. MAIN OUTCOMES: The main outcome variable was immunological recovery, modelled using binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the 9687 patients with severe immunosuppression at enrolment, 2746 (28.35%, 95% CI 27.45% to 29.26%) had immunological recovery following HAART for at least 6 months. Male gender (adjusted OR (AOR)=0.50, p<0.001), age 20-34 years old (AOR=0.33, p<0.001), age ≥50 years old (AOR=0.26, p<0.001), WHO clinical stage III (OR=0.68, p=0.036) and viral non-suppression (AOR=0.38, p<0.001) were strong predictors of immunological failure. CONCLUSIONS: Immunological recovery following HAART was low among severely immunosuppressed individuals at enrolment to care. Gender, age, WHO stage III and viral non-suppression were determinants of immunological recovery. Male patients, adolescents and virally non-suppressed patients should be identified as groups at higher risk for immunological failure. Therefore, greater support and intensive counselling should be prioritised among adolescents, men and virally non-suppressed patients for better immunological recovery.

Magnitude and determinants of road traffic accidents in Northern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the magnitude and determinants of road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Mekelle city, Northern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done using a simple random sampling technique. SETTING: The study was done in Mekelle city from February to June 2015. PARTICIPANTS: The study was done among drivers settled in Mekelle city. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measure was occurrence of RTA within 2 years. A binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with RTA. RESULTS: The magnitude of RTA was found to be 23.17%. According to the drivers' perceived cause of the accident, 22 (38.60%) of the accident was due to violation of traffic rules and regulations. The majority of the victims were pedestrians, 19 (33.33%). Drivers who were driving a governmental vehicle were 4.16 (adjusted OR (AOR) 4.16; 95% CI 1.48 to 11.70) times more likely to have RTA compared with those who drive private vehicles. Drivers who used alcohol were 2.29 (AOR 2.29; 95% CI 1.08 to 4.85) times more likely to have RTA compared with those drivers who did not consume alcohol. CONCLUSION: Magnitude of reported road traffic accident was high. Violation of traffic laws, lack of vehicle maintenance and lack of general safety awareness on pedestrians were the dominant reported causes of RTAs. Driving a governmental vehicle and alcohol consumption were the factors associated with RTA. Monitoring blood alcohol level of drivers and regular awareness to the drivers should be in place. Holistic study should be done to identify the causes of RTAs.