Knowledge, Misperceptions, Preparedness, and Barriers towards Lassa Fever Control among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Institution in Enugu, Nigeria

Ndu, Afam; Kassy, Wilson C.; Ochie, Casmir Ndubuisi; Arinze-Onyia, Sussan U.; Okeke, TC; Aguwa, Emmanuel N.; Okwor, Tochi; Chinawa, Awoere T

doi:10.1353/hpu.2019.0079

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This agrees with the report of Tobin et al [3]. It has been discovered that this age group (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39) give more attention to social media information than any other age group. The present study showed that the percentage of the participants who had up to secondary school was similar in both towns (Iwo 29%, Ayedire 29.8%).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Although, early diagnosis will help reduce spread, diagnostic facilities are di cult to nd in many rural communities in Africa, as none could be found in the study areas. Lack of proper barrier, infection prevention, and control practices exposes health workers to infection [22,27]. Inter-border communal trade of farm produce within local communities, which is characterized by overcrowding and poor sanitation, could also aid the spread of Lassa fever in poorly informed communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Awareness, Knowledge and Prevention Practices Related to Lassa Fever Among Residents of Rural Communities in Southwest Nigeria: Implications for Prevention and Control

Aromolaran¹

2021

Preprint

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Background: Lassa fever (LF) is a haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. The primary reservoir of the virus is the multimammate rat, Mastomys natalensis. More than 3,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of Lassa fever and over 800 deaths have been recorded in Nigeria. This could be attributed to poor rat control and poor sanitation especially in the rural communities where the rats are often found. Increasing awareness and health education about LF have been advocated for its prevention and control. This study investigated the level of awareness, knowledge and prevention practices related to LF among residents in rural communities within Iwo and Ayedire Local Government Areas, Osun State, southwest Nigeria sequel to an awareness campaign. Methods: Structured questionnaire was administered within rural communities in Iwo and Ayedire and 675 participants responded for the survey by a random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test of association (p = < 0.05) and logistic regressions were used to determine associations between demographic variables, level of knowledge and prevention practices. Results: The average age range was 25-39 years, 365 (54.07%) were male, 270 (40%) were married, 199 (29.48%) had up to secondary school education and 536 (79.41%) have heard about LF before. Respondents in Iwo town were more aware of LF than respondent from Ayedire. Only 3 (0.44%) had good knowledge of the transmission and symptoms of the disease and 304 (45.04%) do not have effective means of preventing rats into their homes. About 296 (43.85%) will go to a hospital if symptoms occur, while 118 (17.48%) will do self-medication. Forty-four (6.52%) were aware of good prevention practices. Logistic regression analysis showed that respondents aged 25–39 years were significantly more aware of Lassa fever than other age groups. Educated and married respondents showed significant relationship with good prevention practices than those without education and were not married. Conclusions: Although, the awareness of LF among the respondents was high, only very few had good knowledge of the transmission and symptoms of the disease. Therefore, it is important for the people to be well informed about the disease and good prevention practices in order to curtail the spread.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Awareness, Knowledge and Prevention Practices Related to Lassa Fever Among Residents of Rural Communities in Southwest Nigeria: Implications for Prevention and Control

Aromolaran¹

2021

Preprint

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“…The measurement items of each variable are shown in Table 1. In addition, it was considered that the factors that affect individual emergency preparedness behavior were complex and multifaceted, including demographic characteristics, previous disaster experience, etc., [54][55][56]. Therefore, gender, age, education, occupation, department and experience were selected as control variables in this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Formation Mechanism of Medical and Health Organization Staff’s Emergency Preparedness Behavioral Intention: From the Perspective of Psychological Capital

Zhao

Wang

Hong

2021

IJERPH

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Medical and Health Organization (MHO) staff’s emergency preparedness awareness and behaviors are essential variables that affect public health emergency response effectiveness. Based on the theory of psychological capital and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study discusses the mechanism of the psychological characteristics of MHO staff on their emergency preparedness behavioral intention (EPBI). To verify the research model, we conducted a web-based questionnaire survey among 243 MHO staff from China and analyzed the data using the structural equation modeling software, AMOS 24.0 (IBM, New York, United States). The empirical results reveal that psychological capital significantly affected cognitive processes theorized by TPB. This study suggests that the positive psychological capital of MHO staff should be developed and managed to improve their EPBI.

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“…Recently, a study showing a low level of preparedness for Lassa fever among healthcare workers in Nigeria has been reported. 33 Hospitals and healthcare centers should be equipped with modern and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure prompt, easy and accurate diagnosis of the Lassa virus in endemic communities. The state of facilities for the diagnosis of Lassa fever in an endemic community in Edo state has been decried previously.…”

Section: Participants' Knowledge On the Symptoms Of Lassa Fevermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14 Public health reports have indicated that poor knowledge/awareness of the Lassa virus is a key factor responsible for continuous disease outbreaks which could culminate in loss of many lives within weeks if not curtailed in a timely manner. [29][30][31][32][33] The study aims to provide an assessment of the knowledge of Lassa fever among residents of Ekpoma and Irrua, two Lassa virus endemic regions in Edo state, Southern Nigeria. Information so derived will provide a measure of the degree of alertness/awareness of the disease in the community and by introspection, the country at large.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Knowledge and Risk Factors Associated with Frequent Lassa Fever Outbreaks in Two Endemic Regions in South-South Nigeria

Igetei¹,

Okojie²,

Igetei³

et al. 2020

TJNPR

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Lassa fever or Lassa virus infection is an acute viral haemorrhagic communicable disease caused by the Arenaviridae family of virus. 1,2 The virus was first characterized in 1969 in Jos, a town in North-central Nigeria 3 but was named after a town called Lassa in Borno state, Nigeria. 1 The disease has been majorly reported in western African countries 4 such as, Sierra Leone, 5 Guinea, 6,7 Mali 8 Liberia, 9,10 and Nigeria, [11][12][13][14] where the multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) which serves as the vector is most prevalent. [13][14][15] However, similar to the novel coronavirus and the Ebola virus, the Lassa virus had also been imported into countries where it is not endemic, for example by travelers from Mali into UK, 16 by travelers from Liberia into Ghana, 5 and by travelers from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Côte D'Ivoire into Germany. 18 Thus, like the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Lassa virus can spread to various parts of the world if adequate health precautions and awareness are not implemented. The Mastomys rats which is the vector of Lassa fever are naturally bush dwellers but consequent upon human activities such as loss of habitat through clearing or wildfires, the vector is left with no option than the invasion of human homes. 19,20 Transmission of the Lassa virus can occur in several ways which include man-vector-contact, man's direct contact with the faeces/urine from a vector or virus-

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Knowledge, Misperceptions, Preparedness, and Barriers towards Lassa Fever Control among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Institution in Enugu, Nigeria

Cited by 9 publications

References 14 publications

Awareness, Knowledge and Prevention Practices Related to Lassa Fever Among Residents of Rural Communities in Southwest Nigeria: Implications for Prevention and Control

Awareness, Knowledge and Prevention Practices Related to Lassa Fever Among Residents of Rural Communities in Southwest Nigeria: Implications for Prevention and Control

Study on the Formation Mechanism of Medical and Health Organization Staff’s Emergency Preparedness Behavioral Intention: From the Perspective of Psychological Capital

Assessment of the Knowledge and Risk Factors Associated with Frequent Lassa Fever Outbreaks in Two Endemic Regions in South-South Nigeria

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