The study assesses the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of Lassa fever among health workers in Ondo State.
A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select six hospitals out of
eighteen general/specialist hospitals in eighteen LGAs of Ondo State and lastly, 350 health workers participated in this
study. The instruments used were questionnaires and observed practice checklist. Data were analysed using descriptive
statistics. The results of the demographic characteristics of respondents showed that majority of the respondents are
within the ages of 30 to 39 years, females and were married. Majority of the respondents were Nurses and Chews with
above five years of experience. Lastly, majority of the respondents are from the State specialist Hospitals. Further
findings shows that the respondents are highly knowledgeable about Lassa fever (70.6%) and the source of their
knowledge is the Media (67.7%). This study also reports that the level of preparedness and response to Lassa fever is
poor (38%), the practice of Lassa fever prevention is adequate (55%) and the type of preventive practices of Lassa fever
used by respondents in the health facilities are health education, adequate hand washing and safe injection practice. Two
hypotheses are tested. The first hypothesis tested reveals that the knowledge on Lassa fever is significant with the
respondent’s qualification (grade) and type of facility while there is no association between knowledge and age. The
second hypothesis reveals that there is no association between practice of prevention of Lassa fever and age including
sex. It is therefore recommended that adequate resources and information on preventive practices of Lassa fever be
provided for proper Lassa fever prevention in all health facilities in Ondo State.
- EDWARD | MARY | IDOWU | edwardmaryidowu@yahoo.com | +2349037543853, OMOLAGBA | MARGARET | OPENIYI | openiyimargaret@gmail.com | +2349067708186
- Knowledge, preventive practices, Lassa fever, Laboratory
- EDWARD Mary Vol 8
