Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025401 (Oral 007) | Published: 11 Aug 2025
Patrick Agbo1,2,&, Oladayo Awoyale1, Comfort Agbo3, Joshua Akinyemi1,4, IkeOluwapo Ajayi1
1Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 2Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria, 3Department of Paediatrics, Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria, 4Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Patrick Agbo, Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria. Email: agbopatricketunke01@gmail.com
Received: 28 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 11 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, infection prevention and control, healthcare workers, healthcare facilities, healthcare-associated infections
©Patrick Agbo 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: Patrick Agbo et al., Knowledge of Lassa fever and infection prevention and control practices among healthcare workers in a North-central State, Nigeria. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00007. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00007
Healthcare-associated infections of Lassa fever have been described in many West African countries. Studies in some states have shown poor knowledge and infection prevention and control practices among healthcare workers. This study assesses the knowledge of Lassa fever and practices of infection prevention and control among healthcare workers in Benue State, Nigeria
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 273 Health care workers in government healthcare facilities in Benue state using a multistage sampling technique. The respondents were interviewed using a pre-tested interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed at α=0.05
Majority, 177 (64.8%) of the respondents were female. The mean age of the respondents was 33.3 years (SD=10.0). Majority, [166 (60.8%)] work in tertiary health care facilities. Less than half, 124 (45.4%) have at least 10 years working experience. Most of the respondents, 206 (75.5%) had good knowledge of Lassa fever, and good IPC practices (82.4%). Participants from tertiary health facilities were less likely of good IPC practices compared to those from primary health facilities (AOR=0.17, CI: 0.05, 0.53). Those with previous exposure to Lassa fever training were three times as likely as those with no prior training to have good IPC practices (AOR=3.03, CI: 1.04, 8.78). In terms of cadre, doctors (AOR=0.16, CI: 0.03, 0.79) and Pharmacists (AOR=0.10, CI: 0.02, 0.53) were less likely of good IPC practices compared to CHEWs.
Doctors were less likely to adhere to IPC practices than other HCWs across all three levels of healthcare facilities. Similarly, all HCWs in tertiary healthcare facilities were less likely to adhere to IPC practices than their counterparts in secondary and primary healthcare facilities. This negligence puts HCWs at risk of healthcare-associated transmission of Lassa fever infection. Regular training on Lassa fever IPC protocols is recommended to enhance health outcomes
Menu