title: Prevalence and risk factors of louse-borne relapsing fever in high risk populations in Bahir Dar city Northwest, Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Louse- borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is a vector borne acute febrile illness caused by Borrelia recurrentis and the disease is more prevalent in the high risk groups like prisoners, yekoloremaries and street children. However, prevalence and risk factors of LBRF in these populations about the disease are not known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of LBRF in high risk populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross- sectional survey on prevalence and risk factors of LBRF in high risk populations in Bahir Dar city was conducted in December, 2012. For the study, blood was taken from the tip of the left ring finger of the participants by laboratory technicians and thick blood film was prepared from each participant and stained with 3% Giemsa for 30 min. The slides were examined and the result was reported as positive or negative using light microscopy and finally, data was also collected using a pre- tested questionnaire by face to face interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 407 study participants, 383 (94.1%) were males with the mean age of 31 years and 243 (59.7%) had no formal education. The prevalence of LBRF was 2.5% and the positivity rate of LBRF was highest in yekolotemaries (6.1%) followed by street children (4.9%). However, prisoners had nil and statistically significance association was observed between high risk populations and LBRF prevalence (p < 0.001). Those study participants who lived in mud houses had the highest positivity rate (2.2%), followed by those in wood houses (0.3%). However, those who lived in brick houses had nil. Study participants who had low levels of knowledge had the highest prevalence rate of LBRF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall prevalence of LBRF was 2.5% and the rate of positivity was highest in yekolotemaries, followed by street children. Therefore, health education should be given for these high risk populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. yimermulat@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mulat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yimer
authors.forename: Bayeh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abera
authors.forename: Wondemagegn
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mulu
authors.forename: Belay
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bezabih
authors.forename: Jemal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mohammed
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001898:Borrelia / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012061:Relapsing Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult