Knowledge of, risk perception towards and reported preventive practices against Lassa fever among health workers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Background: Secondary transmission of Lassa fever has been recorded annually among healthcare workers who provided care. An outbreak of the disease in Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria in 2018, recorded high morbidity and mortality. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, risk perception, and preventive practices towards Lassa fever among healthcare workers.    Methods: A health facility-based descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted involving senior members of staff randomly selected from the list of staff members. A structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 554 consenting respondents in 304 health facilities. Results: More than half of the respondents (317, 57.2%) are health workers in primary healthcare cadres. Although 444 (80.1%) knew the case definition for reporting, only 379 (68.4%) correctly indicated the reporting channel. Concerning risk perception, 174 (31.4%) rated their risk of contracting the disease in the workplace as high, and 309 (55.8%) indicated that hospitals' infection control policy is inadequate. Furthermore, only 76 (13.7%) of the respondents reported having modified their working habits for fear of being infected with Lassa fever three months before the study with 368 (66.4%) and 474 (85.6%) reported that they always use aprons and gloves respectively during treatment of patients. Conclusion: There is a need to strengthen the hospital infection control policy and train healthcare workers on reporting suspected cases

Enhanced surveillance for covid-19 response in Lagos State, Nigeria: lessons learnt, 2020

Background The SARS-CoV-2, the novel virus which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has changed the world. No aspect of humanity is untouched from health, aviation, service industry, politics, economy, education, and entertainment to social and personal lives, since the outbreak of influenza-like illness in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The Lagos State COVID-19 response team deployed enhanced surveillance through Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) at health facilities and communities in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos State. Lagos State was the first state in Nigeria to deploy this specific surveillance strategy for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response. Methods We utilized descriptive and quantitative approaches to describe and assess the impact of the Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in health facilities and communities in 20 LGAs of Lagos State between 1st April and 15th May 2020. Results We found a significant difference in mean scores of suspected COVID-19 cases (M=60, SD=109, before ACS for ARI compared to M=568, SD=732, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0039), confirmed cases (M=10, SD=19, before ACS for ARI compared to M=144, SD=187, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0028) and contacts (M=56, SD=116, before ACS for ARI compared to M=152, SD=177, after ACS for ARI, P=0.044) before and after ACS for ARI in 20 LGAs of Lagos State, between 1st April and 15th May 2020. Conclusion The deployment of the Lagos State government’s polio-eradication structure for the COVID-19 response is both innovative and effective. The response to COVID-19 requires robust surveillance, credible and timely communication, collaboration, coordination among government, inter-governmental organizations (e.g., WHO), non-governmental organizations, and citizens to succeed and limit the medical, economic, social, and personal losses to the COVID-19 pandemic