Indian Journal of Communicable Diseases

Malaria remains leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally. In Ethiopia, malaria cause evidential public health and Socio-economic effect. This study targeted at assessing the current prevalence of malaria and society awareness against malaria control strategies in Assosa district western, Ethiopia. All malaria suspected individuals who have complains of febrile illness in selected health institutions in the study area from September 2020 to February 2021 was considered to determine the current malaria prevalence. Individuals who visited the health institutions for any kind of health care service and selected house holders were the study subjects. Highest rate of malaria positivity was recorded at health post with positivity rate of 9.1% followed by private clinic with positivity rate of 4.9% whereas Assosa hospital and health center has positivity rate of 3.2% and 3.1% respectively. More males (69%) were affected by malaria than females (31%). Malaria morbidity was more concentrated in the age of 15-25 (38%) followed by age from 5 to 14(25%). P. falciparum is the dominant Plasmodium species over P. vivax in the study site which is 89% and 10% respectively. Most of the respondents (97%) had heard about malaria and similar number of respondents believed that malaria is one of the serious diseases of the community, around 94% of participants have at least one ITN. Most of the respondent especially in Assosa town claimed that the type of ITN is not comfortable to use it in their home. The overall malaria prevalence of Assosa district is 3.4 % which implies very low infection prevalence. Also, this research indicated that the community in the study area have good awareness on malaria control strategies. Keywords: Assosa; Blood smear; Malaria; Society awareness; Prevalence.

Multiple cranial nerve palsy is a syndrome resulting from damage to 2 or more cranial nerves, usually caused by granulomatous inflammation or an infectious process in the superior orbital fissure or lateral wall of cavernous sinus, or retrosphenoid space with involvement of cranial nerves 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 in combination. Mucormycosis is a potentially lethal opportunistic fungal infection occurring in immunocompromised person. We depict a patient with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus complicated by opportunistic fungal infection in the nose, palate and paranasal sinus progressively invading the cranial nerves 2,3,4,5 - sensory (oph and max), 6 and also the 7 ipsilaterally. The patient also had multiple embolic infarcts of brain with involvement of intracranial ICA territory. Mucormycosis is a serious opportunistic fungal sepsis of the soft tissue around face and mouth, including nose and paranasal sinus in immunocompromised person progressing rapidly to involve multiple cranial nerves and the cerebral vasculature. Risk factors associated with such infection are uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. Early suspicion and diagnosis is mandatory to treat this dreadful infection and patient survival. Keywords: Mucorales; Fungal sepsis; Cranial neuropathy; Embolic infarcts; Diabetes mellitus.

Background: CAM (COVID-19 associated invasive Mucormycosis) has been increasingly documented in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Predisposing factors include diabetes, steroid use, neutropenia, malignancies, and immunocompromised individuals. The etiology and the exact route of entry for CAM in COVID patients are poorly understood. In India, the incidence of CAM in COVID patients is on the rise. Repeated use of steam inhalation with herbal medicines might cause nasal mucosal trauma which leads to CAM Patients and Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the cause for CAM. COVID positive patients with and without Mucormycosis admitted to our hospital were included in the study. A detailed history about the practice of steam inhalation, comorbid illnesses like Diabetes Mellitus (DM), and the use of steroids were assessed and analyzed. Results: 63 CAM patients and 154 Non-Mucormycosis COVID positive patients were taken for the study and analyzed. Injudicious use of steam inhalation (84.1% vs 40.9%) multiple times per day (> 3 times) are strongly associated with CAM among COVID-positive patients (P value 0.0001). Uncontrolled DM (P-value 0.011) and prolonged duration of steroids > 8 days (P-value <0.001) were significantly associated with CAM when compared to control groups. Early diagnosis and treatment improved the outcome of CAM patients. Conclusion: Injudicious use of steam inhalation can cause nasal mucosal trauma which can result in Invasive Mucormycosis in already immune depleted COVID positive patients Keywords: CAM COVID-19 associated invasivemucormycosis); Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Steam inhalation.