Infection prevention and control during COVID-19 pandemic: realities from health care workers in a north central state in Nigeria.

O S Ilesanmi,A Mohammed,A Akande,T Raji,A A Afolabi

doi:10.1017/s0950268821000017

Abstract

Health care workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to the risk of infections and could become vectors of onward transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about the factors which could contribute to increased COVID-19 infection among HCWs in Nigeria. We aimed at assessing the causes of COVID-19 infection among HCWs. We used a qualitative study design to conduct in-depth interview among 16 frontline HCWs participating in the COVID-19 response in Kwara State, Nigeria. Colaizzi's phenomenological method was used in the qualitative analysis of data. We found that HCWs were aware of their vulnerability to the COVID-19 infection, and the reasons attributed included poor knowledge of IPC measures for COVID-19, inadequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), poor political will and inadequate health facilities (HFs) management support. Improved political will and better involvement of HFs management teams in infection prevention and control (IPC) systems are needed to reduce the risk for COVID-19 infection among HCWs. We recommend scale-up training on IPC measures particularly hand washing and use of PPE as well as the development of effective points of care risk assessment with a high index of suspicion in HFs.

Highlights

The development of vaccines and medical research for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is ongoing, the demand for regular provision of health care keeps rising [1]
Deliberate disregard of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures has contributed to the increasing rates of COVID-19 infection among frontline health care workers (HCWs) who manage COVID-19 patients
Many HCWs who are religious folks deny the existence of COVID-19, and fail to comply with recommended IPC measures

Summary

Introduction

The development of vaccines and medical research for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is ongoing, the demand for regular provision of health care keeps rising [1]. The provision of quality health care during the COVID-19 pandemic depends largely on the health of health care workers (HCWs). This group of persons are especially vulnerable to the risk of infections and could become vectors of onward transmission of COVID-19 [1, 2]. The rapidly evolving pandemic has overwhelmed the health system and has burdened HCWs and health facilities (HFs) both globally and locally [3]. The current COVID-19 pandemic emphasises the need for every HF to have critical-care HCWs in sufficient numbers and with adequate skills [6]

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