Preventive practices by households against Lassa fever transmission in Ondo State, Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: continued transmission of Lassa fever has been recorded in 6 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ondo State in Southwest, Nigeria annually with high case fatality rates. Genomic analysis of the Lassa virus has indicated ongoing transmission from local rodents´ population to humans despite several public health interventions during the outbreak including risk communication on preventive practices against the disease. We assessed adherence to preventive practices by household against the spread of Lassa fever in these affected LGAs.

Methods: a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among community members in the six affected Local Government Area (LGAs). A semi structured questionnaire was administered to 2992 consenting respondents to assess their reported preventive practice against Lassa fever while their observed practices was assessed using observation checklist. Data analysis was done using frequency, proportions, Chi-Square test and logistic regression of predictors of outcome variable with statistical significance set at p<0.05.

Results: a higher proportion of the respondents were females (51.2%) compared to males (48.8%) with mean age of 43.04±13.97 years. Majority of the respondents (88.2%) were married with at least secondary education (76.7%). Majority of the respondents (80.2%) reported washing their hands with soap and water regularly, 84.6% washed their utensils before and after use likewise. However, 10.6% of the respondents reported not storing their food items in lid-covered containers while 61.9% practiced open air drying of food items by the roadside. Also, 34.3% of the respondents were observed to spread food items outside their home in the open air. Overall, 32.6% of the respondent were observed to have poor preventive practices against Lassa fever with their level of education as a significant determinant.

Conclusion: the poor preventive practices observed among the respondents in this study could sustain the transmission of the virus hence there is also the need to further intensify enforcement of public health control measures for Lassa fever through existing community structures and institutions to stop the current and prevent future Lassa fever and other related outbreaks in the State.