<p>Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Jinka University Students About Yellow Fever, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study</p>

Abstract

Background Yellow fever (YF) is endemic in South Omo area of Ethiopia. Although Jinka University (JKU) is located in South Omo Zone, there is no information regarding the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of students toward YF. The current study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of JKU students toward YF and factors associated with the overall knowledge and attitude about the disease. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from randomly selected regular program JNU students. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate associations of socio-demographic factors with overall knowledge and attitude scores. Results A total of 322 students (61.2% males, mean age of 20.7 years) participated in this study. Of these, 94.1% joined the University from places other than South Omo area and 86.0% (277/322) ever heard about YF. 9.6% were found to have a high level of overall knowledge about YF. High overall knowledge of YF was associated with being born and grown up in South Omo area (AOR=3.91; 95% CI: 1.28, 11.98) and being a student of a social science discipline (AOR=3.52; 95% CI: 1.22, 10.13). 48.8% of the participants had favorable overall attitude toward YF. Being a second-year student (AOR=1.96; 95% CI: 1.14–3.37), being born and grown up in South Omo area (AOR=5.13; 95% CI: 1.32–19.98), and having high overall knowledge of YF (AOR=13.24; 95% CI: 3.69, 47.44) were associated with favorable overall attitude toward YF. On the other hand, only 5.8% of the participants reported that they were vaccinated for YF. Conclusion The low level of knowledge and low vaccination coverage of JKU students to YF, especially among those students from other parts of the country, calls for urgent awareness creation during admission and making vaccination available.

Population knowledge, attitudes and practice towards Yellow Fever among nomadic populations: A cross-sectional study in Yellow Fever outbreak Communities in Ghana

“…The fear of being at risk for yellow fever and someone working or living in the forest zones being at higher risk was again mentioned by a majority of the participants. Our findings in these regards were in line with a similar study result reported by (13) in Jinka, Ethiopia and (15) among the general population in South Omo Zone. These positive attitudes of the nomadic population towards yellow fever put them in a position to most likely adopt preventive measures therefore they must be assisted by establishing a system of healthy practices to avoid and curb the spread of the disease sustainably.…”

“…Findings here demonstrated low knowledge on the cause of yellow fever, main transmission vector, breeding point for the transmission vector, and hygienic management of breeding sites. The very low knowledge of these indicators in our study is similar to previous research (13,15). Other studies (15),(19) found very few participants knew that the mosquito is the transmission vector for yellow fever.…”

“…We found overall knowledge to be low or poor. Our findings are similar to previous research, (13) in which only 9.6% of the participants were found to have adequate overall knowledge of yellow fever. These results give cause for concern, as the nomadic population are most likely not to have put in place adequate preventive measures.…”

“…(12). Other studies highlighted how knowledge was found to be associated with the geographical location of birth and fields of academic study (13), although a community study conducted in Southern Ethiopia found low population knowledge on transmission modes, cause and preventive strategies.…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practice towards yellow fever among nomadic populations: A cross-sectional study in yellow fever outbreak communities in Ghana

“…More than three-quarters of travellers were unaware of yellow fever infection and vaccination in India [11]. Other studies highlighted how knowledge was found to be associated with the geographical location of birth and fields of academic study [12], although a community study conducted in Southern Ethiopia found low population knowledge on transmission modes, cause and preventive strategies.…”