Cervical cancer (CC) continues to be a global burden, and a disease of public health interest, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This study explored the knowledge and awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and CC and the risk-behavioural characteristics of an adult female population in rural Ghana. A total of 274 women, aged 21 years and above were recruited through multi-stage sampling. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on their socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics and assess their knowledge and awareness of HPV and CC through face-to-face interviews. In all, 187 (68.2%) participants had poor knowledge of HPV and CC with 87 (31.8%) having good knowledge. Only 18.2% and 48.9% of them had prior awareness of HPV infection and CC, respectively. Their primary source of information was the broadcast media (TV and Radio stations) (60.1%). Regarding risky lifestyle behaviours, the mean age at sexual debut was 18.52 ± 2.39 years, 82.8% have had more than one lifetime sexual partner, 81.0% were multiparous with 51.5% using oral contraceptives. Women with higher educational attainment (cOR = 0.41; 95%CI = 0.20-0.81), monthly income (cOR = 0.31; 95%CI = 0.10-1.02), and lifetime sexual partners (aOR = 0.46; 95%CI = 0.21-1.00) were less likely to have poor CC and HPV knowledge compared to their counterparts. In conclusion, adult females in the rural population have limited knowledge and awareness of HPV infection and CC with low CC screening. Intensive educational campaigns should be organised and spearheaded on multiple platforms by the Ghana Health Service and civil societies to sensitise and educate women, in the rural parts of the country, on CC and its related preventive measures.
The study assessed potential sources of nosocomial infections as well as the knowledge of healthcare workers about these infections in a peri-urban polyclinic of Ghana. Swabs were taken in duplicates from beds in the wards, door knobs, sinks, nurses' desks, taps handles, delivery beds, wound dressing rooms, and door and flashing handles of lavatories. After overnight incubation, the samples were serially diluted two times and the third diluent was used in culturing unto plate counting agar, MacConkey agar, blood agar and incubated at 35±2°C for 24 h. The plates were read for colonies and isolated colonies were identified. A simple random method was used to sample the respondents from the various departments in the Polyclinic. Structured questionnaires were administered to solicit their knowledge or understanding of possible causes of nosocomial infections and their perception of the efficacy of the cleaning processes employed in the facility as well as measures put in place to protect healthcare workers from these infections. Data collected showed that Bacillus spp. was the predominant bacterium isolated contributing 64.3% of the total isolate. Out of the 24 pathogenic organisms forming 35.7% of the total organisms isolated, Staphylococcus aureus (94.8%) formed the majority and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.2%) was the least isolated. There was no significant difference between the number of isolates recorded before cleaning and after cleaning (P > 0.05) with almost the same number and type of organisms isolated in both cases. Apart from the orderlies who demonstrated little knowledge on nosocomial infections, all the other healthcare workers exhibited adequate knowledge of nosocomial infections. The seemingly high percentage of pathogenic isolates from our study site indicates a high potential risk of nosocomial infections in peri-urban polyclinics.
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