KNOWLEDGE AND PREVENTIVE PRACTICES OF LASSA FEVER AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTER IN OWO, ONDO STATE

KNOWLEDGE AND PREVENTIVE PRACTICES OF LASSA FEVER AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTER IN OWO, ONDO STATE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria, epidemiological reporting to the country's health authorities is being done on a weekly basis for a number of different diseases, including lassa fever. Over the years, reports indicated that the epidemiological pattern was shifting quite quickly (Ogbu, Ajuluchukwu and Uneke, 2007). Mortality and morbidity are both caused by it in areas where outbreaks occur, which includes Nigeria, the country in which it was initially discovered in 1969.

A virus with a single strand of RNA is responsible for lassa fever (Healing and Gopal, 2001; Johnson et al.,1987). The primary symptom of this potentially deadly infection is a weakened or delayed cellular immune immunity, which may progress to fulminant viraemia. This condition often begins with a fever of unclear etiology (Chen and Cosgriff, 2000). The natural host for the virus is the multimammate rat, which is known scientifically as Mastomys natalensis. These rats reproduce often and may be found in large numbers in West, Central, and East Africa (Healing and Gopal, 2001). There is the potential for human-to-human interaction in addition to zoonotic transmission (Ogbu, Ajuluchukwu and Uneke, 2007).

Some of the variables that contribute to the outbreak of disease include shifts in population, insufficient sanitation, overcrowding, a lack of resources to handle sufferers, and unpreparedness for epidemics (WHO,2000). The growing number of people who travel internationally and the possibility that the Lassa virus could be used as a biological weapon may have increased the potential for harm beyond the level of the local community. This has highlighted the necessity for a deeper understanding of Lassa fever as well as more effective control and treatment programs.

The Mastomys rodent, often known as the "multimammate rat," is the major host for the Lassa virus. This rodent is a member of the genus Mastomys. Once infected, Mastomys rats do not get unwell; nonetheless, they are able to shed the virus in their urine and faeces. Humans become infected when they come into touch with the urine and faeces of infected rats. The infection may also be spread when rats are being hunted and processed for human food as part of the procedure. Direct contact with blood, urine, feces, or other secretions from an infected individual, as well as other bodily fluids, is how the virus is transmitted from human to human. It has also been reported that it was transmitted via sexual contact with another person. 1 This spread from human to human may take place either in the community or while providing medical treatment to infected humans in a healthcare environment. Even though eighty percent of infected persons do not exhibit any symptoms, the disease may strike human humans of any age and of any gender.

On the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response platform in Nigeria, the Lassa fever is a disease that is recognized for prompt notice because of its potential to spread rapidly. It has an alert threshold of a single case that is suspected to have the disease, and it has an epidemic threshold of a single case that has been proven to have the disease. The dry season is often when outbreaks of the disease become most prevalent. Despite this, incidences of the disease have been documented during the wet season.

Edo State, which has consistently had the greatest number of both suspected and confirmed cases of LF in Nigeria in recent decades, is located near to Ondo State geographically. Ondo State is one of the most populous states in Nigeria (NCDC,2012). Because the symptoms of LF are similar to those of malaria, which is a disease that is common in Nigeria, there is a good chance that the diagnosis of LF will be missed. In the state, the group of persons most likely to get infected with Lassa fever, which is also a potential cause of nosocomial infection, is primary healthcare center-going mothers. These women are frequently the most sensitive to the disease. It is possible that transmission of the infection and an outbreak of the disease will occur in situations in which basic healthcare facilities are not fully prepared with the necessary people, knowledge, and supplies to manage cases of liver fluke (LF).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Despite the fact that a number of studies have found that mothers who go to primary healthcare centers have a reasonably good knowledge of LF, the vast majority of these studies used mothers who went to private hospitals as their respondents, and their attitude toward preventive measures was still described as being poor (Ajayi et al.,2013). This is taking place in the midst of a lackadaisical approach to the practice of universal precaution among healthcare workers in Nigeria, particularly those working in primary healthcare centers (Kermode et al., 2005). This research investigated the levels of knowledge about Lassa fever as well as the preventive measures taken by women who visited primary healthcare centers in OWO, which is located in the state of Ondo.

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