scholarly journals Poor knowledge of COVID-19 and unfavourable perception of the response to the pandemic by healthcare workers at the Bafoussam Regional Hospital (West Region - Cameroon)

Author(s):  
JOVANNY TSUALA FOUOGUE ◽  
MICHEL NOUBOM ◽  
BRUNO KENFACK ◽  
NORBERT TANKE DONGMO ◽  
MAXIME TABEU ◽  
...  

Background The World Health Organization has warned against a dramatic impact of COVID'19 in subSaharan Africa unless adequate response strategies are implemented. Whatever the strategy, the role of health care workers is pivotal. We undertook this study to assess knowledge of COVID'19 and perception of the response to the pandemic among the staff of a regional hospital in charge of COVID'19 patients in West Cameroon. Methods We used a convenience non probabilistic sampling method to carry out a survey with a self administered questionnaire from April 14, 2020 to April 29, 2020 at the Bafoussam Regional Hospital (BRH). All the staff was invited to participate. Statistical analyses were done using Microsoft Excel 2010 and Epi Info version 7.1.5.2 software. Results Response rate was 76.1% (464/610). Mean age (SD) and average work experience (SD) were 35.0 (8.9) and 8.4 (7.4) years respectively. Sex ratio (M/F) was 101/356. Nursing and midwifery staff (56.8%) and in patients units (49.94%) were predominant. Knowledge on origin and transmission of SARS'CoV'2 was poor but knowledge of clinical signs and the role of laboratory tests were good. 53.2% of respondents said all therapeutic regimens are only supportive and only a third of them trusted drugs recommended by health authorities. For 36.9% of respondents, herbal remedies can prevent/cure COVID'19. 70% of staffs felt they were not knowledgeable enough to handle COVID'19 cases. 85.6% of respondents thought the BRH had insufficient resources to adequately respond to COVID'19 and 55.6% were dissatisfied with its response to the pandemic (weaknesses: medicines/technologies (74.5%), service delivery (28.1%), human resource (10.9%)). 68% of staff felt insufficiently protected on duty and 76.5% reported that the pandemic significantly reduced non-COVID-19 services. 85.5% said they complied with preventive measures while in the community. For 44% of respondents Cameroonian regulations on COVID'19 corpses should be made more culture sensitive. 51.2% of respondents were against vaccine trial in their community. Conclusion Knowledge of COVID'19 was poor and perception of the response to the pandemic was unfavorable. Key words Health care workers ; Bafoussam ; Knowledge ; Perception ; COVID'19

2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 515-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olesja Nedic

Introduction. This year, the World Health Organization focuses on restoring dignity and respect to health care workers. The aim of this study was to investigate the workplace stressors in physicians. Material and Methods. The present study was performed in the period 2002-2004, among physicians treated in the Health Center Novi Sad. The examinees were asked to fill out a questionnaire - a workplace survey - to identify workplace stressors by using a self-evaluation method. The physicians were divided into three groups: those practicing surgery (S), internal medicine (IM) and preventive-diagnostics (PD). Statistical analysis was done using SPSS and STATISTICA software. The sample included 208 physicians with an average age of 40 years (SD=7,1); average work experience of 22 years (SD=8,1). Results. 65 physicians from group S and 108 physicians from group IM, identified the following workplace stressors: treating patients in life-threatening situations (47.7%, 30.6%, respectfully); on-call duty (13.8%, 12%); low salary (10.8%, 10.2%); limited diagnostic and therapeutic resources in the IM group. 35 physicians from the DP group identified the following stressors: low salary (25%), treating patients in life-threatening situations and a great number of patients (16%). The analysis of all examined physicians revealed the following workplace stressors: treating patients in life-threatening situations (34.6%), low salary (13%), on-call duty and overtime, and too many patients per physician (11.5%). Conclusion. Restoring the reputation of health workers can be done by providing new equipment to resolve life-threatening situations, by increasing salaries, reducing on-call time, as well as the number of patients. Generally speaking, this should help to improve the quality of work in the health care system, in accordance with the recommendations of the WHO. .


Author(s):  
Krushna Chaitanya Patnaik ◽  
Dhirajsingh Rajput

Infectious diseases are the disorders caused by pathogenic organisms which are scary because most of us don’t have the sufficient knowledge about them. They are scarier because they can be dangerous and may lead to loss of life. We think about them only if we are health care workers or it happens to ourselves and our close ones. Immunity plays vital role in prevention of mechanism of the formation of diseases. Significant role of free radicals in initiating as well as improving immunity to minimize the diseases is major point of focus behind utilization of Anti-oxidant and rejuvenation therapy. Ayurveda has mentioned similar principles under the heading of . Present workis a review based on the previous published articles, recent updates regarding prevention of COVID-19 according to World Health Organization, Ayurveda aspect towards prevention of infectious diseases using antioxidant herbs and yoga practices. There are numerous antioxidant herbs and yoga but the specific mentioned seems to be more useful in developing immunity. The mentioned herbs may prove more useful in developing immunity.


Author(s):  
Oleg Yu. Atkov ◽  
Svetlana G. Gorokhova ◽  
Viktor F. Pfaf

The paper contains a literature review on COVID-19 in health care workers and demonstrates that the disease is of occupational character; features, clinical signs, and complications are described to provide evidence for such interpretation. It also addresses important documents issued by the Government of Russia to support medical professionals, some aspects of occupational risk in COVID-19, and the role of interactions between patients and health care workers in disease propagation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kaba Alhassan ◽  
Seth Owusu-Agyei ◽  
Evelyn Korkor Ansah ◽  
Margaret Gyapong

Abstract Background Health care workers (HCWs) are among the high-risk groups in contracting and dying from COVID-19. World Health Organization estimates that over 10,000 HCWs in Africa have been infected with COVID-19 making it a significant occupational health hazard to HCWs. In Ghana, over 100 HCWs have already been infected and dozen others died from the virus. Acceptability and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is therefore critical to promote health and safety of HCWs as the country battles out of a third wave of the pandemic. Objective The study sought to ascertain the correlates of HCWs likelihood of participating in a COVID-19 vaccine trial and accepting the vaccine when given the opportunity. Methods The study was a web-based cross-sectional survey among HCWs (n = 1605) in all sixteen (16) administrative regions in Ghana. Data were analyzed with STATA statistical analysis software (version 14). Chi-square (X2) and Fisher’s exact tests were used to test for differences in categorical variables; bivariate probit regression analysis with Average Marginal Effect (AME) was employed to ascertain the determinants of HCWs’ likelihood of participating in a COVID-19 vaccine trial and taking the vaccine. Results It was found that 48% of HCWs will participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial when given the opportunity; 70% will accept the COVID-19 vaccine; younger HCWs (AME = 0.28, SE = 0.16, p < 0.1), non-Christians (AME = 21, SE = 0.09, p < 0.05) and those who worked in faith-based health facilities (AME = 18, SE = 0.07, p < 0.05) were more likely to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. Female HCWs (AME = − 11, SE = 0.04, p < 0.05) and those with lower educational qualification were less likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine (AME = − 0.16, SE = 0.08, p < 0.1). Reasons cited for unwillingness to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial or uptake the vaccine were mainly fear, safety concerns, mistrust, uncertainty, spiritual and religious beliefs. Conclusions Acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine appear to be high among HCWs; conversely, willingness to volunteer for the vaccine trial was low. Continuous targeted and integrated public health education for HCWs will enhance vaccine acceptability to promote safety and population health in the global south as Ghana intensifies efforts to produce COVID-19 vaccines locally.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasha H. Bassyouni ◽  
Ahmed-Ashraf Wegdan ◽  
Naglaa A El-Sherbiny

To evaluate the role of educational intervention on health care workers' (HCWs) compliance to standard precautions and cleaning of frequently touched surfaces at critical care units, forty-nine HCWs at 2 intensive care units (ICUs) and one neonatology unit at Fayoum University hospital were evaluated for knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards standard precautions as well as obstacles affecting their compliance to standard precautions before and after a 32-hour purposed-designed infection control education program. A structured self-administrated questionnaire as well as observational checklists were used. Assessment of Environmental cleaning was investigated by observational checklist, ATP bioluminescence and aerobic bacteriological culture for 118 frequently touched surfaces. Pre-intervention assessment revealed that 78.6% of HCWs were with good knowledge, 82.8% with good attitude and 80.8% had good practice. Obstacles identified by HCWs were as follow: making patient-care very technical (65.3%), deficiency of hand washing facilities (59.2%), skin irritation resulting from hand hygiene products (51%), and unavailability of PPE (38.8%). High significant improvements of knowledge, attitude and practice were detected after one month of educational intervention (P= 0.000). During the pre-interventional period only 30.5% of surfaces were considered clean versus 97.45% post intervention (P< 0.05). The highest Median ATP bioluminescence values were obtained from telephone handset, light switches and Blood pressure cuffs. S. aureus was the most common isolated organism followed by Enterococcus spp and E.coli (52, 38 and 19 surfaces respectively). In conclusion, contentious training of HCWs on standard precautions should be considered a mandatory element in infection control programs


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tesfaye Solomon ◽  
Dejene Lemessa

Abstract Background: Health care workers are susceptible to acquiring blood and body fluids borne infections due to their occupations involving contact with patients and their body fluids, although studies conducted in Ethiopia are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the magnitude of exposure to blood and body fluids among health care workers in governmental health facilities in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.Materials and methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 19 to June 25, 2018. A total of 381 health care workers were selected by simple random sampling from 31 sampled governmental health facilities using proportional to size allocation. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires, entered into Epi-info version 7, and analyzed by SPSS version 21. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) calculated for variables retained in the multivariable logistic regression and significance declared at p<0.05.Results: Of 377 health care workers who participated, the study found that 233 (61.2%) were exposed to blood and body fluids in their lifetime. Previous needle stick injury (AOR=0.30; 95%CI: 0.12-0.75), type of health facility (AOR=0.42; 95%CI: 0.26-0.68), handwashing practice (AOR=0.15; 95%CI: 0.07, 0.31), and perceiving at risk (AOR=0.16; 95%CI: 0.03, 0.98) were protective factors whereas long work experience (AOR=1.47; 95%CI: 1.13-1.93) was a risk factor for the exposure.Conclusions: Exposures to blood and body fluids during patient care were common among health care workers in the study area. Therefore, health care workers especially those newly hired and working in hospitals should pay due attention to their occupation's safety and regularly practice hand washing during critical times.


Vestnik ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 313-316
Author(s):  
И.Г. Турсумбай ◽  
Л.К. Кошербаева

Одним из последствий осуществления медицинской деятельности в разнообразных хозяйственных формах является изменение экономического положения работников здравоохранения. От количества и качества их труда зависит экономический результат деятельности лечебно-профилактических учреждений (ЛПУ) в целом. В статье приводится сравнительный анализ занимающихся подготовкой экономистов в области здравоохранения по различным критериям. Подчеркивается необходимость непрерывного совершенствования подготовки управленческих кадров в области экономики здравоохранения в современных условиях развития общества. One of the consequences of the implementation of medical activities in various economic forms is a change in the economic situation of health care workers. The number and quality of their work depends on the economic result of the activities of medical and preventive institutions (LPU) as a whole. The article presents a comparative analysis of the health economists who are engaged in training according to various criteria. The necessity of continuous improvement of training of managerial personnel in the field of health economics in the modern conditions of society development is emphasized.


2021 ◽  
pp. 49-52
Author(s):  
Shrivastava P ◽  
Verma S ◽  
Khushboo Khushboo ◽  
Bhattacharya P K

Despite the ubiquity of health-related communications via social media, no consensus has emerged what information should be conveyed and how it should be conveyed to avoid creating panic among general population. With lockdowns social media, mass media became as a habit by people for news, information regarding COVID-19 and it is practiced even after lockdown. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mass media, social media and local news has become as the source of a toxic “infodemic” source for public. It contained both solicited and unsolicited advice. No conceptual model exists for examining the roles of media. It is important to rst assess the important mis-information, role of infodemics and prevalent casualness among the public regarding the COVID-19. Till mass vaccination is not commenced it is prudent to emphasize guidelines and practices as per COVID guidelines like social distancing, wearing mask, hand hygiene


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemare Troskie

The Reconstruction and Development Plan as well as the National Health Plan of the ANC supports the reorganisation of health services. OpsommingDie Heropbou en Ontwikkelingsprogram sowel as die Nasionale Gesondheidsplan van die ANC staan die herorganisasie van gesondheidsdienste voor. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


Author(s):  
Quentin Eichbaum

Abstract Telemedicine refers to the use of telecommunication technologies for the purpose of transmitting medical information between physically separated clinical sites, in order to provide health care to patients at such remote locations. Additionally, telemedicine can be used to educate health care workers and students at distant locations. Telemedicine technologies can be categorized as either ‘store-andforward’ or ‘interactive’ (or ‘synchronous/asynchronous’) depending on the timing of the transmission of information. This review focuses on applications of telemedicine to the field of obstetric and gynecologic (Obs/Gyne) ultrasound. It also examines the utilization patterns of telemedicine, as well as its costs and benefits. Finally, this article examines the role of telemedicine in medical education, specifically also with reference to Obs/Gyne ultrasound.


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