Knowledge, Attitudes and Cultural Practices of Lassa fever Prevention and Treatment among Kaduna North Community Dwellers in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focused on the examination of the knowledge, attitudes and cultural practices perception of respondent towards Lassa Fever (LF) prevention and treatment. The result of this study also revealed that after 48 years of the first case of LF in Nigeria, the knowledge and understanding of LF disease, transmission, prevalence and factors were poor amongst respondents. However, the respondents knew about some non-specific signs such as fever, malaise, headache, sore throat and vomiting. Poor knowledge has also been reported amongst health care workers. Some of the respondents only recently (2014 and 2015) heard about LF disease despite the fact that the disease has posed health challenge for so many years. Some respondents learned about LF from newspaper and current campus campaign on LF. These findings support the need for continuous campaigns and news items in the public media to sustain the dissemination of information on LF. Effective surveillance of LF could predict an outbreak and provide opportunity for massive public mobilization for ‘Health Action’, to break the chain of transmission of LF in the community. Improvement and upgrading of disease surveillance is key to prevention of future outbreaks not only of Lassa fever but other epidemics.