Abstract
BackgroundThe 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa began in Guinea’s Forest region, a region now considered to be at high risk for future epidemics of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF). Good knowledge, attitudes and practices towards VHF amongst healthcare workers in such regions are a central pillar of infection prevention and control (IPC). To inform future training in IPC, this study assesses the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards VHF amongst healthcare workers in public healthcare facilities in the most populated prefecture in Forest Guinea, and compares results from urban and rural areas.MethodsIn June and July 2019, we interviewed 102 healthcare workers in the main urban and rural public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture in Forest Guinea. We used an interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from validated KAP surveys.ResultsThe great majority of respondents demonstrated good knowledge and favourable attitudes towards VHF. However, respondents reported some gaps in preventive practices such as VHF suspect case detection. They also reported a shortage of protective medical equipment used in everyday clinical work in both urban and rural healthcare facilities and a lack of training in IPC, especially in rural healthcare facilities. However, whether or not healthcare workers had been trained in IPC did not seem to influence their level of KAP towards VHF.ConclusionsThree years after the end of the Ebola epidemic, our findings suggest that public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture in Forest Guinea still lack essential protective equipment and some practical training in VHF suspect case detection. To minimize the risk of future VHF epidemics and improve management of outbreaks of infectious diseases in the region, current efforts to strengthen the public healthcare system in Guinea should encompass questions of supply and IPC training.
Highlights
The 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa began in Guinea’s Forest region, a region considered to be at high risk for future epidemics of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF)
We found no significant difference between urban and rural areas regarding knowledge of VHF, When asked which VHF suspect case definition healthcare workers (HCW) used in their clinical practice, the majority (77.4%) reported to be using a suspect case definition in which the presence of haemorrhage was mandatory
As previous Ebola-related KAP surveys amongst HCW in Guinea during the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic, we identified infection prevention and control (IPC) training needs with regards to reported IPC training status and the described deficiencies in practices
Summary
The 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa began in Guinea’s Forest region, a region considered to be at high risk for future epidemics of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF). Attitudes and practices towards VHF amongst healthcare workers in such regions are a central pillar of infection prevention and control (IPC). To inform future training in IPC, this study assesses the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards VHF amongst healthcare workers in public healthcare facilities in the most populated prefecture in Forest Guinea, and compares results from urban and rural areas. Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF) are febrile illnesses caused by distinct families of RNA viruses. Patients may present a wide range of symptoms but VHF usually cause high fever, gastrointestinal symptoms and sometimes bleeding [2]. VHF outbreaks go hand in hand with a high risk of nosocomial and occupational infection [4]
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