Worldwide, 663 million people do not have access to improved drinking water supplies and 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation including one billion who practice open defecation. Eighty-eight percent of deaths from diarrheal diseases are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, and insufficient hygiene practices. 

Objective: To assess water handling and sanitation practice among rural communities of Farta woreda,North west Ethiopia. 

Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Farta Woreda from March 5 to 20, 2015. A total of 834 households were proportionally allocated to 10 kebeles of the Woreda and selected by systematic random sampling Technique.Data was collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was performed to obtain the frequency distribution of the variables. 

Results: The majority of respondents water source were unprotected spring 313 (37.5%) followed by protected spring 206(24.7%). In addition to this, most households 382 (92.5%) had covered their stored water. Most of the respondents practiced pouring method to withdraw water from the stored container. Majority 738 (88.5%) of households had access to water within a time of 30 minutes or less. House hold water treatment was not common in the study area, only 23 (2.8%) households practiced. About four hundred seventy eight (57.3%) households had latrine facility, of which 263 (55%) was open pit latrine. In addition of those households having latrine only 102(21.3%) of households had hand washing facility. 

Conclusions: This study revealed that most of the respondents had poor water handling and sanitation practice. Thus, this study underscores that there should be great attention. 

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are caused by a large number of microorganisms mostly with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Data concerning the 
frequency of STD agents is scarce in the Islamic World including Turkey. In this report we describe a case with multiple STD agents presented with  urethral discharge. 

Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge to laboratories especially in non-endemic malaria countries. Population movements and Travellers all contribute to presenting the laboratory with diagnostic problems for which it may have little expertise available. This study was aimed to compare the accuracy of two malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs); Optimal-IT® and one step RDT with the microscopic examination as the gold standard. Between June 2013 to January 2015 blood samples were collected from 78 patients, attending the internal medicine department at King Faisal specialized hospital at Taif, Saudi Arabia. Microscopy and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) were done locally and the accuracy was evaluated. In this study detected 61 (78%) malaria positive slides, while 65 (83%) and 64 (82%) positive samples were detected with Optimal-IT and One Step Malaria Antigen Rapid Tests respectively. Optimal-IT sensitivity (98%), specificity (71%), positive predictive value (92%), negative predictive value (92%) and diagnostic accuracy (92%) whereas, one step RDT test showed 97%, 71 %, 92%, 86%, 91% respectively. However, the differences in detection rates of these diagnostic tests were not statistically significant (P>0.05). RDTs are considered the best option in health areas specially with limited laboratory services despite the problems related to their accuracy. However, this study showed that the accuracy of RDTs is not always satisfactory when performed in clinical laboratories.

Background: The diagnosis of Giardia spp. may pose a challenge on routine Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) sections of small intestinal biopsy specimens. Additionally, clinicians may not order additional laboratory testing for Giardia at the time of the biopsy due to the frequently nonspecific clinical presentation. We selected cases diagnosed as positive for Giardia by H&E microscopy and tested the corresponding Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissue using a quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) to evaluate the performance characteristics in detecting Giardia. Design: We obtained 65 small intestinal biopsy specimens that were diagnosed as positive for Giardia on H&E sections from the years 1991–2012. We then tested the cases for evidence of Giardia by qRT-PCR using the FFPE tissue. Seventy negative control biopsies from the small intestine and colon were also tested. A single case diagnosed as equivocal for Giardia by H&E microscopy was also selected. A review of the medical records for the positive cases was done to determine whether any additional laboratory testing for Giardia spp. had been performed at the time of the biopsy. 

Results: Of the 65 biopsy specimens positive for Giardia by H&E, 64 also tested positive by qRT-PCR, resulting in a sensitivity of 98.5%. All 70 negative control cases were also negative by qRT-PCR, resulting in a specificity of 100%. The equivocal case tested negative for Giardia by qRT-PCR. Pertinent medical records were available for 21 of the Giardia-positive cases. Of these, only one case had a corresponding stool ovum and parasite examination, which was also positive for Giardia. The remaining 20 cases did not have any additional laboratory testing performed for Giardia at the time of the biopsy. Conclusion: qRT-PCR using FFPE tissue is a useful, highly sensitive and highly specific molecular adjunct to H&E histology in the diagnosis of Giardia, especially in equivocal cases. qRT PCR may help facilitate an accurate diagnosis in cases with nonspecific clinical presentations for which an endoscopic 
examination with biopsy is performed.

Zingiber officinale (Z. officinale) is a perennial herb with several medicinal properties. Development of modern drugs from Z. officinale can be emphasized for the control of various diseases. The feasibility of using Z. officinale to treat parasite infections has received considerable interest nowadays. Therefore, this review focused on the anti-parasitic activity of Z. officinale. Method of this literature search was conducted on PubMed, Elsevier Scopus database and Google Scholar with no limitation on language or year of publication databases. Z. officinale was found to have a significant antihelmintic activity against Schistosoma mansoni, Toxocara canis, Dirofilaria immitis, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Aniskis simplex, Hymenolepis nana and hydatid cysts either in vitro or in vivo. Also, it has an anti-protozoal effect against Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia lamblia, Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Blastocystis species. Additionally, it was found to have insecticidal, molluscicidal and anti-leech effects.