Background: Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever found predominantly in West Africa with the potential to cause approximately 5,000 deaths per year. However, good knowledge of the disease may reduce the infection rate. The study assessed the knowledge of Lassa fever and its determinants among traders in Izzi community Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 248 traders selected by simple random sampling method. Data were collected from respondents who gave their informed consent using interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using Chisquare test (Fisher's exact test where appropriate) for categorical variables and binary logistic regression for predictors of the outcome variables. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 Results: Most of the respondents (40%) were within the age group of 21 -30 years. Majority of the Original Research Articletraders were females (64.1%), married (64.1%) and predominantly Christians (97.2%). A large proportion of the respondents (43.1%) had secondary education level, and 10.1% had no formal education. Awareness of Lassa fever was high 197 (79.4%) among the traders. The commonest source of information was radio 152 (61.3%), and only 15% of the respondents heard about Lassa fever from health workers. Overall knowledge of Lassa fever was poor: 173 (70%) of the traders had poor knowledge, and only 53 (21.4%) had excellent knowledge. Majority of the traders 160 (64.5%) ate rat's meat. Factors found to be significantly associated with knowledge of Lassa fever include gender, educational status, and consumption of rat. Predictors of adequate knowledge include male gender and completing tertiary education. Conclusion:The high level of awareness of Lassa fever in this study did not translate to adequate knowledge of the disease. The poor level of knowledge points towards a growing need to step up not just awareness of Lassa fever but also in-depth knowledge of the causes, mode of transmission and prevention of the disease through public education with special access to the female cohort.

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Background: Self-medication for febrile illnesses in children is a common practice among caregivers particularly in resource limited settings where over-the-counter medications and prescription-only medications are easily accessible. The most often used drugs in these settings include: anti-malaria, analgesics, antibiotics, anti-helminetics local herbs and home-made remedies. The drugs mostly used by caregivers include: Anti-malaria, Local Herbs, Home-made remedies, Analgesics, Antibiotics and anti-helminthics. Mis-diagnosis and inappropriate use of medications as well as delay in seeking appropriate healthcare could lead to complications including mortality.

Background: In developing countries, school age children continue to bear the greatest burden of intestinal parasites and schistosomiasis. This study determined the prevalence, knowledge, attitude and practice of preventive measures of intestinal and urinary parasitic infections among primary school children in Ebonyi, Nigeria Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 120 pupils in two primary schools in Igbeagu community in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The pupils were purposively selected based on willingness to participate. Data were collected using questionnaires and stool and urine analyses. IBM-SPSS software version 20 was used for data analysis. Chi square test was done at 5% level of significance and 95% confidence interval. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed. Results: Mean age of respondents was 11.33±2.46, with majority between 6-13 years (102, 85.0%). There were 66 (55.0%) females and 104 (86.7%) respondents had good knowledge about intestinal parasites. Drinking contaminated water (104, 86.7%), using clean toilets (102, 85.9%) and diarrhea (105, 87.5%), were the most identified ways of transmission, prevention and symptomatology respectively. Overall, 117 (97.5%) had good attitude towards prevention and control of intestinal and urinary parasites. Respondents had good preventive practices against intestinal and urinary parasites with majority washing their hands with soap after defecation (100, 83.3%), and before eating (101, 84.2%). Conclusion: This study reported high levels of knowledge, good attitude and preventive practices against intestinal and urinary parasites. No parasites were found. We recommend that caregivers be targeted for behaviour change interventions as this will augment the positive results already being reported.

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