Prevalence and Causes of Cholera Among Children in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and causes of cholera among children in Ekiti state. Cholera epidemic is a pandemic disease that is responsible for much illness. Cholera seems to remain a major public health issue and it seems that inadequate knowledge of parents to make adequate provision for clean water, clean environment and decent toilets contributed to its high prevalence among children in Ekiti State. The research design used for this study was descriptive survey, the sample size of (300) respondents were used for the study. While Simple random sampling technique was used for the study. The researcher used questionnaire for the study. The instrument used for the study was 26 items structured questionnaire and split half method was employed to ascertain the reliability of the instrument of the instrument in which the coefficient of 0.91 was obtained at 0.05 level of significance. In the research work four hypotheses were formulated from the purpose of the study. The four hypotheses were rejected. The study showed that poor sanitation can lead to the outbreak of cholera among children; eating of contaminated food and drinking of contaminated water can lead to the outbreak of cholera among children. It was recommended that there is need for proper awareness of people living in Ekiti on the prevalence of cholera outbreak in the community and necessary factors that may lead to the outbreak. Parents and guidance should educate their children toward hygienic habit and proper ways of keeping the surrounding clean to avoid the spread of the diseases DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/76-07 Publication date: June 30th 2020