Knowledge and application of infectious diseases control measures among Primary Care workers in Nigeria: The Lassa fever example

The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and practice of Lassa fever control among primary care health workers. The study was a cross-sectional survey of health workers in 34 primary care centres in Esan West and Esan Central Local Government Areas. The LGAs were selected from Lassa fever-endemic areas in the state and studied with 231 self-administered semi-structured questionnaires. The knowledge of respondents was assessed using a ten-question scoring system. Data was analyzed and presented in tables and figures. All respondents were aware of Lassa fever and 77.9% of them had good knowledge of the control of the disease while 9.1% had poor knowledge. There was no significant association between level of knowledge and designation of the health worker (χ2=8.99, df =4, p>0.05). Only 13.0% and 16.9% of them regularly practiced barrier-nursing and hand washing, respectively, as means of containing the spread of the infection. The level of general knowledge about Lassa fever was high. However, there was poor compliance with standard preventive practices. Therefore, sustained education and re-training of Health workers at the primary care level is required to curtail nosocomial transmission of the disease.Key words: Lassa fever, health worker, infection, disease control

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among students in private and public secondary schools in a peri-urban Nigerian town

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among secondary school students in Ekpoma.Study design: Cross sectional studyPlace and duration of the study: Private and public secondary schools in Ekpoma Edo state; from May to October,2011.Methodology: This is a school based analytical cross-sectional study of a sample of 417 students drawn from 4secondary schools in Ekpoma using the multistage sampling technique. Semi-structured interviewer-administeredquestionnaires were used to obtain qualitative information from the respondents; the weight of each respondent wasmeasured using a bathroom scale and the Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated and classified based on the AmericanMedical Association classification. The results obtained for students in private schools where then compared withthose of their peers in public secondary schools.Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be 8.6% and 1% respectively; the mean BMI was19.6±2.6. More (67.5%) of those found to be overweight and obese were students in private schools (95% CI = 1.03-4.39 OR=2.11; ?2= 4.85). Similarly, 11.59% and 1.45% of students in private schools were overweight and obeserespectively compared to 5.71% and 0.95% for those in public schools. Majority (68%) of respondents had poorknowledge of the risk factors for and problems associated with being overweight or obese. Students in the uppersocial class are more likely to be overweight/obese compared to their peers in the lower social class((X 2HM = 10.35;P <.01; common odds ratio = 3)CONCLUSION: Over nutrition and under nutrition are both occurring in adolescents in a predominantly ruralsetting which suggests that Policy makers and health professionals need to implement strategies that will preventover nutrition side by side current efforts to curb under- nutrition. Reactivation of the school health program inNigeria is considered a helpful initial step

Assessment of Home Management of Malaria by Caregivers in a Rural Community in Edo State, South-South, Nigeria

Malaria remains the leading cause of child mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. Home-based management of malaria (HMM) is promoted as a major strategy of reducing malaria mortality and severe morbidity, in line with the Millennium Development Goal 6. This study assessed the treatment of malaria at home in a rurul community in South-South Nigeria. A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among 165 mothers in Okada community, Ovia north-east, Edo state. A Systematic sampling technique was used for selecting respondents. Data was collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire and analysed with SPSS version 16. The mean age of caregiver was 32 ± 1.4 years. 87(53%) of the respomlents associated fever, vomiting and body weakness with childhood malaria. One hundred and nine 109(66.1 %) of the caregivers started treatment at home using orthodox medicine, with patent medicine dealers as the common source of meclication. Chloroquine and fansidar were the commonly used anti-malaria drugs. The study shows that majority of the caregiver treated malaria at home using Chloroquine and fansidar. There is however need to improve and sustain the strategy (HMM), placing more emphasis on educating the caregivers on current drug protocols to achieve better results in controlling the prevalence and incidence of malaria especially at the community level. Emphasis should be laid on health education highlighting and encouraging the caregiver on the use of ACT for the treatment of malaria. Key words: Assessment Malaria, Caregiver, Home, Management, South-Sout