The Ebola virus disease is a zoonotic, acute viral syndrome which occurs by infection with one the strains of the Ebola virus. It is primarily endemic in Africa however the recent outbreak in the year 2014 spanned from West Africa all the way to Europe and America. This shows the virus possess a global threat and should not be considered localized to only certain parts of the world. The social and economic impact of zoonotic diseases today is high as 80% of human pathogens are of zoonotic origin. Human to human transmission happens when there is contact with bodily fluids of infected humans during the infectious phase of the disease. This spread could be through nosocomial means or community spread. Poor knowledge of the syndrome among health care workers coupled with lack of funding and deficient resources has crippled their ability to diagnose and break the chain of transmission of the disease at its early stages. The virus undergoes pathogenesis by immune evasion, immune suppression, coagulopathy, and hypovolemic shock, multiple organ failure and death in up to 90% of cases. The unavailability of a cure or vaccine for this syndrome makes it a recurrent threat due to high risk behavior practiced in endemic countries such as bush meat consumption. Thus this study gives the reader a review of current literature on this deadly disease with the aim of increasing knowledge and aiding its prevention and control.
Background: Standard precaution practice (SPP) is aimed at protecting both patients and health professionals alike. The high rate of occupational hazards among health workers especially in developing countries is counterproductive and therefore requires thorough investigation and intervention. This study aims to determine the role of knowledge and attitude in determining SPP among nursing students.Methods:This research involved 172 nursing students at the teaching hospital of University of Maiduguri. Sampling was done using simple random sampling. Knowledge and attitude on towards one of the filoviruses (Ebola) including recommended SPP towards its prevention were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire after written consent. For bivariate correlation, Pearson’s correlation was used between knowledge and SPP, attitude and SPP, then knowledge and attitude. Subsequently the determinants of SPP were analyzed by multiple linear regression using SPSS (IBM Inc.) version 22. Significance level was 0.05 at 95% confidence interval.Results: The mean scores were knowledge 26.27(±6.6), attitude 80(±8.9) and SPP 61.08(±9.04). Correlation results was significant between knowledge and SPP (r=0.485, p<0.05) as well as knowledge and attitude (r=0.134, p<0.05). Knowledge of nursing students was a significant determinant of SPP (b = 0.663, 95% CI = 0.48-0.84, p<0.05).Conclusions:There is an association between knowledge and SPP despite the low level of knowledge among respondents. Improvements in the nursing program curriculum is recommended.
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