Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025196 (Poster 125) | Published:  08 Aug 2025

Community knowledge, attitudes and practices towards Lassa hemorrhagic fever in Natitingou, Northern Benin

Padonou Sètondji Géraud Roméo1,&, Aguemon Badirou1

1Département de Santé Publique. Faculté des Sciences de la Santé. Université d’Abomey-Calavi. République du Benin.

&Corresponding author: Padonou Sètondji Géraud Roméo, Département de Santé Publique. Faculté des Sciences de la Santé. Université d’Abomey-Calavi. 01 BP 188 Cotonou, République du Benin. Email: geraud.padonou@gmail.com

Received: 24 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 08 Aug 2025

Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology

This is part of the Proceedings of the ECOWAS 2nd Lassa fever International Conference in Abidjan, September 8 – 11, 2025

Keywords: Lassa fever, Community KAP, Northern Benin

©Padonou Sètondji Géraud Roméo et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cite this article: Padonou Sètondji Géraud Roméo et al., Community knowledge, attitudes and practices towards Lassa hemorrhagic fever in Natitingou, Northern Benin. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(Conf Proc 5):00269. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00269

Introduction

Lassa hemorrhagic fever remains a concern in Benin. The risk of transmission is primarily related to population behavioral factors. This study aimed to assess KAP in a community in northern Benin.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2025 in Natitingou in the Atacora department and involved 309 adult subjects. Sociodemographic and environmental data, as well as knowledge, attitudes, and practices, were collected. A score was calculated for each component. Factors associated with a good score were analyzed using a logistic regression model.

Results

A total of 66.5% of the surveyed subjects had good knowledge, 52.9% good attitudes and 43.7% good practices. Socioeconomic level (AOR = 1.45 [1.22-3.67]) and education level (AOR = 1.74 [1.12-2.46]) were associated with good knowledge. Farmers (AOR = 2.59 [1.93-4.08]) and married people (AOR = 1.25 [1.11-2.53]) had a higher probability of having a bad attitude. Bad practices were related to age (AOR = 2.01 [1.52-3.86]), household size ≥ 7 (AOR = 1.81 [1.14-3.99]) and farmer occupation (AOR = 2.40 [1.30-2.91]).

Conclusion

Some lifestyle habits among populations still favor the transmission of Lassa fever, despite good knowledge of the disease. It is useful to engage decision-makers and community leaders to achieve the goal of behavior change.

 
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Keywords

  • Lassa fever
  • Community KAP
  • Northern Benin
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