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Article History

Received: 26 September 2025

Accepted: 10 March 2026

First Online: 19 March 2026

Declarations

:

: The authors affirm that they have no conflicting financial or non-financial interests.

: The Jimma University Institute of Health’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and AHRI/ALERT Ethics Review Committee granted ethical clearance with protocol number JUIH/IRB/578/23 dated 22/07/2023 and AAERC PO-34–21 respectively. To obtain permission for the study, the School of Medical Laboratory Science wrote letters of support to the six health facilities. Written consent was obtained from all mothers of eligible children after they were informed of the study’s purpose. In this study, no clinical samples were collected, and no animals were used. Every procedure used in the study complied with institutional criteria, local ethical standards, and the fundamentals of research involving human subjects (as stated in the Declaration of Helsinki).

: Not applicable.