Daniel Mekonnen

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Instructor at Bahir Dar University

PURPOSE Etiologically associated with infection by high-risk Human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs), cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths globally and this is also true in among Ethiopian women. To develop efficient vaccination and HPV-based cervical cancer screening approaches, data on genotype distribution of HPVs is vi...

Background: War is one of the most significant factors exacerbating tuberculosis (TB) epidemics, increasing both morbidity and mortality rates. Direct attacks on healthcare facilities and medics, displacement of millions of people, and challenges with access to and delivery of medicines disrupt patients' treatment. This study aimed to assess war an...

Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) and intestinal helminths have huge public health importance, and they are geographically overlapped. Data about the burden of intestinal helminth and TB co-infection in these areas are fragmented. In this systematic review and meta-analysis we compile the current literatures and generate pooled prevalence. We also ide...

Introduction Drug resistance (DR) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is mainly associated with certain lineages and varies across regions and countries. The Beijing genotype is the leading resistant lineage in Asia and western countries. M. tuberculosis (Mtb) (sub) lineages responsible for most drug resistance in Ethiopia are not well des...

Introduction: Despite the global vaccination campaign to prevent HPV-related morbidity, HPV vaccination uptake remains unacceptably low in the developing world, like Ethiopia. For strong interventional measures, compiled data in the field is required, which is otherwise missed in the Ethiopian context. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to pro...

Background Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), is a chronic infectious disease with both pulmonary and extrapulmonary forms. This study set out to investigate and compare the genomic diversity and transmission dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) isolates obtained from tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN)...

CITATIONS 0 READS 64 4 authors: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: TB research in Ethiopia View project Undernutrition and associated factors among adults living with Human Immune Deficiency Virus in Dembia District, northwest Ethiopia: an institution based cross-sectional study View project Yesuf Si...

Background: Rapid Ethical Assessment (REA) is a rapid qualitative study anticipated to understand the ethical sphere of the research setting prior to recruiting study subjects. This study assessed the communities' knowledge about tuberculosis (TB) and research, understand the social arrangements advisable for recruiting research participant and ap...

Background The serum lipid and immunohematological values of tuberculosis lymphadenitis (TBLN) patients is poorly documented relative to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the serum lipid and immunohematological values of patients with TBLN in comparison with PTB (PTB) patients. Methods An insti...

Background: Bedbug is a wingless human blood-sucking bug that generally infests houses and beds. Bedbug infestation is prevalent across the country. Despite its prevalence, however, there is scarce information on the epidemiological, psychological, social and public health impacts of the infestation. This lack may arise from the absence of sufficie...

Background: Anti-retroviral treatment enhances the immune status and reduces unwanted outcomes. However, development of treatment failure and drug resistance raises concern over lifelong treatments to chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Objectives: This study determined proportion of treatment failure (TF) and identified factors associated with TF a...

Background: The World Health Organization endorsed GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 2010. However, the practice of using this novel diagnostic method is still limited in a high TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden settings, including Ethiopia. Therefo...

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy related metabolic syndrome which adversely influence the mother and their newborn infants. Besides, lack of study in our population, some studies also reporting discrepancies in the association of lipid profiles and clinical chemistry parameters with the risk of PE. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the di...

Background Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a metabolic disorder that adversely affects the lives of mother and their infants. Even though, several studies have been conducted on PE, no effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents were developed so far. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate serum uric acid, blood urea and creatinine levels in the predicti...

Background Rapid Ethical Assessment (REA) is a rapid qualitative study anticipated to understand the ethical sphere of the research setting prior to recruiting study subjects. The aim of this study was to gather ethnographic data to assess the knowledge about TB and research, study the social arrangements of the community and appraise the research...

Background: Conventional cancer treatment includes surgery, radiation, hormonal and chemotherapy, sometimes a combination of these. Each of these has limitations and serious side effects, which led to a search for new treatment options. Understanding tumor immunobiology and the complex interactions between immune cells and cancer pave the way for t...

Background: Cervical cancer is caused by infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs). It is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Ethiopia and globally. To develop efficient vaccination and HPV-based cervical cancer screening approaches, data on genotype distribution of HPVs is crucial. Hence, the study was aimed to re...

Introduction: Determining tuberculosis (TB) case notification rate (CNR) at Zonal and Woreda level administration is very important for programmatic management. Methods: Routine case notifications data archived between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2018 were extracted from the regional health management information system (HMIS) database. The CNR of all...

Responsible for more than 4.9 million deaths so far, COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is instigating devastating effects on the global health care system whose impacts could be longer for the years to come. Acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of host-virus interaction is critical for designing effective vaccines and/or drugs. Understanding the evolu...

Introduction: Vaccines are the agreed upon weapon against the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjuvanted subunit vaccines are well controlled, safe and effective. This review discusses about COVID-19 subunit vaccines and their signaling pathways which could provide a glimpse into the selection of appropriate adjuvants for prospective vaccine development studie...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the main etiology of tuberculosis (TB), is predominantly an intracellular pathogen that has caused infection, disease and death in humans for centuries. Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic intracellular organelles that are found across the evolutionary tree of life. This review is an evaluation of the current state of...

Introduction: Campylobacter jejuni is the leading causes of diarrheal disease worldwide among under five years of age. Epidemiological data about C. jejuni and drug susceptibility profile of isolates among children with symptom of gastroenteritis has a paramount importance for evidence based decision. However, such information is not available in t...

Introduction Staphylococcus aureus is a well-known superbug and leading causes of wound infections. The clinical epidemiology of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant S. aureus (VRSA) is not well documented in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of MRSA, VRSA and associated factors from surgical...

Abstract Background Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) is a Gram positive bacterium which is a leading cause of pharyngitis, skin and soft tissue infection and post streptococcal syndromes. Due to lack of β-lactamase enzyme production, it was considered universally susceptible to penicillin group and later generation of β-lactam antibiotics. As s...

Background: Tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are among the major health problems in Ethiopia. This study assessed the proportion of tuberculosis lymphadenitis (TBLN), HIV infection and their co-infection among TBLN presumptive individuals at the selected hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross section...

Background: Anti-retroviral treatment enhances the immune status and reduces unwanted outcomes. However, development of treatment failure and drug resistance raises concern over lifelong treatments to chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Objectives: This study determined proportion of treatment failure (TF) and identified factors associated with T...

Introduction Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of malignancies among women in Ethiopia. Knowing the disease could empower women to make an informed decision regarding participation with cervical cancer prevention strategies. There is scarcity of compiled data in the field. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to provide an overview of...

Effective, safe, and pharmacokinetically suitable drugs are urgently needed to curb the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The main protease or 3C-like protease (Mpro or 3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is considered an important target to formulate potent drugs corresponding to its crucial role in virus replication and maturation in addition to its relatively conser...

Background: Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) is a Gram positive bacterium which is a leading cause of pharyngitis, skin and soft tissue infection and post streptococcal syndromes. Due to lack of β-lactamase enzyme production, it was considered universally susceptible to penicillin group and later generation of β-lactam antibiotics. As such, emp...

Background:Africa’s first COVID-19 case was identified in Egypt on 14 February 2020. Since then, almost all African countries have reported cases. The pandemic is transitioning to more widespread community transmission in most African countries, underscoring the need to further scale-up COVID-19 testing with a much wider geographic coverage. In Afr...

This study aimed to assess the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐COV‐2) serological test methods and the kinetics of antibody positivity. Systematic review and meta‐analysis were conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guideline. We included art...

Objective: Gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection (STI) next to Chlamydia. Untreated cases could results in major complications like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy, infertility, miscarriage, fetal death and congenital infections. Gonorrhea has been treated with antibiotics for more than ei...

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are becoming more prevalent throughout the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected community. However, there is scarcity of data about the prevalence of MRSA among HIV positive pediatric patients in the study area. Objectives: To determin...

Abstract Background Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic fungal infection that primarily affects people with advanced HIV/AIDS and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. By far the most common presentation of the disease is cryptococcal meningitis (CM), which leads to an estimated 15–20% of all HIV related deaths worldwide...

Background: Tuberculosis lymphadenitis (TBLN) is the commonest form of extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). The actual burden of TBLN in Ethiopia is not well known due to lack of strong surveillance system. Therefore, our study was aimed to describe the magnitude of TBLN and its associated factors in the study area. Method: The records of 2156 pre...

Background: Bacterial meningitis remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity in many developing countries, including Ethiopia. Data on the type and antimicrobial resistance profile of the isolates from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is limited in Ethiopia and particularly in the study area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify bacterial...

Background: Genital infection with certain types of Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major cause of cervical cancer globally. For early detection of premalignant dysplasia, evidences are coming out on the usefulness of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test as a potential tool compared with cytology and HPV DNA testing. Taking into account shortage of compiled data o...

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and its human host are the most competent organisms with co-evolutionary trajectory. This review determined the phylogeography, clinical phenotype-related genotype and transmission dynamics of MTBC in Africa. METHODS: Spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number...

Over 99% of cervical cancer cases are associated with genital infection by certain types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs). To outline optimal vaccination strategies and HPV based cervical cancer screening, synthesized data on the genotype distribution of HPV is fundamental that is otherwise missed in Ethiopia. The aim of this study is to compile th...

Background: There is inadequate data on the profile of cervical lesions detected by visual inspection with acetic (VIA) among women in Ethiopia and in the study area in particular. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of VIA positive cervical lesions and its associated factors among women visiting gynecology department o...

Introduction Tuberculous lymphadenitis is the most frequent form of extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) and accounts for a considerable proportion of all EPTB cases. We conducted a systematic review of articles that described the epidemiological features of TBLN in Africa. Methods Any article that characterized TBLN cases with respect to demographic, exposu...

Full Robbins-I risk of bias assessment result. (XLSX)

Sensitivity analysis of gender, age and TBLN/HIV co-infection. (DOCX)

Funnel plots showing publication bias. (DOCX)

Completed PRISMA check list of the review. (DOCX)

Literature search strategy. (DOCX)

Introduction The objectives of this study were to estimate the micronutrient deficiency levels of tuberculosis patients at the start and end of the intensive phase, and to identify the predictors of micronutrient deficiencies in tuberculosis patients. Methods A prospective cohort study design was implemented. The sample size was calculated using E...

Background: Rubella virus infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcomes and reproductive failures. In Ethiopia, little is known about the extent of the disease and rubella vaccination is not widely available. The main aim of this study was to assess the sero-prevalence of the rubella virus infection and its associated risk fa...

Background: Cervical cancer, the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women in developing countries. Over 99% of cervical cancer cases are epidemiologically associated with high risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HP) infections. In order to draw up optimal vaccination plans, poole...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2018/6413179.].

Background Cryptococcosis is one of the common opportunistic fungal infections among HIV infected patients living in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia. The magnitude of the disease at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH) in particular and in Ethiopia at large is not well explored. Methods A retrospective document review and analysis was done...

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriurias (ASB) are common during pregnancies that could have potentially serious consequences for maternal and fetal health. The rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistance necessitates continuous monitoring of the susceptibility patterns of pathogens. Objecties: The purpose of this study was to identify bacterial pat...

Background The hospital environment is a source of medically important pathogens that are mostly multidrug resistant (MDR) and posing a major therapeutic challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the surface and air bacteriology of selected wards at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH), Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was...

Background Asymptomatic pharyngeal colonization by potential bacteria is the primary reservoir for bacterial species within a population and is considered a prerequisite for development of major childhood diseases such as sinusitis, otitis media, pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis. However, there is dearth of data on the colonization and drug re...

Questionnaire for collection of socio-demographic characteristics, clinical and other explanatory variables of HIV infected children attending at Felegehiwot Referral Hospital. (DOCX)

Background: Data regarding tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes, proportion of TB/HIV co-infection and associated factors have been released at different TB treatment facilities in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world as part of the auditing and surveillance service. However, these data are missing for the TB clinic offering directly observed treatm...

Background Anemia is an indicator of both poor nutrition and health. In low-income countries like Ethiopia, the prevalence of anemia remains high due to several determinant factors. There is a lack of regular surveillance system to determine the magnitude of anemia among school age children. The aim of this study was to determine the burden and det...

Background: Globally, tuberculosis (TB) continues to cause considerable morbidi¬ty and mortality. Ethiopia is among the 22 high TB burden countries reported. Currently, data regarding the magnitude of TB and associated factors have been released at different health facilities as part of service auditing. However, such data are not universally avail...

Introduction: In Ethiopia, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cancer with 100% fatality rate. HCC cases in low income countries die within few months following diagnosis. There is lack of information on the burden, risk factors, diagnosis modalities, surveillance strategies and treatment approaches to HCC in Ethiopia. Objective: To...

Introduction: antimicrobial resistance among bacteria that cause urinary tract infection (UTI) has been increasing since the introduction of chemotherapy. This study was aimed to assess the types of isolates from patients with UTI and to determine their current antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Methods: a record based retrospective analysis of...

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriurias (ASB) are common during pregnancies that have potentially serious consequences for maternal and fetal health. The rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistance necessitates continuous monitoring of the susceptibility patterns of pathogens in the urinary tract of pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to id...

Background: An increased antibiotic resistance of bacterial isolates from wound infections is a major therapeutic challenge. The aim of this study was to identify bacterial isolates associated with wound infection and to determine their current antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study in which we...

Background: The World Health Organization endorsed GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 2010. However, the practice of using this novel diagnostic method is still limited in a high TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden settings, including Ethiopia. Therefo...

Background: Bedbug is a wingless human blood-sucking bug that generally infests houses and beds. Bedbug infestation is prevalent across the country. Despite its prevalence, however, there is scarce information on the epidemiological, psychological, social and public health impacts of the infestation. This lack may arise from the absence of sufficie...

Introduction: Youth are the foundation of any society. Neglecting their sexual and reproductive health leads to high social and economic crisis. However, there is limited information on the sexual and reproductive health aspects of University students in Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess risky sexual behaviours and associated fact...

Background: Data on the epidemiology of tuberculosis and its treatment outcomes were incomplete in the study area and this study was done to fill this gap. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted from January 2011 to December 2014. A total of 949 TB patients who were on treatment in North Eastern Ethiopia, Eastern Amhara r...

Bacterial blood stream infections (BSIs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Prevailing data on bacterial species causing BSI and their antibiogram are essential for proper management of patients. A retrospective study was conducted on blood culture results that had been processed from March 2013 to January 2015 at Bahir Dar Regional Hea...

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a global concern for both developing and developed countries. Currently it becomes more complex due to increasing levels of drug resistance and HIV co-infection. Delayed diagnosis and high case load are major factors contributing to continued transmission and failure to the treatment outcome. The study was conducted...

Ear infection linked with frequent antibiotic prescription, hearing impairment, severe disability and death is a public health threat in developing countries. However, there is scarcity of documented data in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed at determining bacterial etiologic agents and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among pa...

Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) are the leading independent global causes of death among patients with infectious diseases. Additionally, due to the shared immune defense mechanisms, they are the leading cause of co-morbidities globally. However, little information was found regarding the proportion of TB/HIV co-...

Background: MRSA infections are becoming more prevalent throughout the HIV community. MRSA infections are a challenge to both physicians and patients due to limited choice of therapeutic options and increased cost of care. Objectives: This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of colonization and co-resistance patterns of MRSA species amon...

Introduction: In Ethiopia, the most widely used disinfectant is 5% Hypochlorites. However, Ethiopian national health safety and infection prevention guideline recommendation on the use of bleach is not consistent and varying from 0.1%-4%. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess the effective time-concentration relationship of sodium hypo...

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world's deadliest communicable diseases, responsible for ill-health among millions of people each year. Early detection and management of the disease is crucial to reduce associated burdens. Cross-sectional survey was conducted from November 2014 to February 2015 at Bahir Dar health centre. Sputum samples were collecte...

It is important for HCWs to remember that over 20 pathogens have been reportedly transmitted from needle stick injuries. The most serious are the transmission of Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B virus and Human immunodeficiency virus. World Health organization report showed that 16,000 HCV, 66,000 HBV & 1000 HIV may have occurred worldwide. Two milli...

Multidrug resistant tuberculosis(MDR-TB) is becoming a major threat to tuberculosis control programs in Ethiopia. To determine risk factors of MDR-TB patients in Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. Case-control study was conducted from May 2013 to January 2014. Resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid were done molecularly using line probe assa...

Abstract Ethiopia adopted Public-Private Mix Directly Observed Treatment Short Course Chemotherapy (PPM-DOTS) strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control program. Quality of sputum smear microscopy has paramount importance for tuberculosis control program in resourcepoor countries like Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the qualit...

Abstract Background: Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR - TB) is becoming a major public health problem in Ethiopia. According to Ethiopian national drug resistance survey (2005), the prevalence of MDR-TB among new and retreatment cases was 1.6% and 12% respectively. So far there was no latest report on the prevalence of MDR-TB in Ethiopia, espe...

Introduction The overall prevalence of HBV in Ethiopia varies from 4.7-16.8% for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and 70-76.38% for at least one marker positive. Patients suffering from type I Diabetes Mellitus (DM) incur high risk of infection with hepatotropic viruses because of frequent hospitalization and blood tests. Methods A comparative...