Knowledge of Lassa Fever Disease and Preventive Measures among Secondary School Teachers in Enugu East Local Government Area

Abstract

The study was conducted to ascertain the knowledge of lassa fever disease and its preventive measures among secondary school teachers in Enugu East Local Government Area. Four specific objectives with the corresponding four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The population for the study consisted of 635 teachers in public secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government Area. Sample size for the study consisted of 225 teachers in the public secondary schools in Enugu East LG using multistage sampling procedure; simple random sampling technique of balloting without replacement. The instrument for data collection was Knowledge of Lassa fever Disease and its Preventive Measures Questionnaire (KLFDPMQ). Frequencies and percentages were used for answering the research questions while Chi-square statistics were used for testing the null hypotheses. Results among others indicated that secondary school teachers’ possessed low knowledge (49.5%) of lassa fever disease, average knowledge (55.5%) of lassa fever preventive measures. Overall level of Knowledge of lassa fever preventive measures possessed by secondary school teachers was average knowledge. Also, at 0.05 level of significance, there was significant difference in the level of knowledge of lassa fever preventive measures possessed secondary school teachers based on age and location. Based on the findings, the study recommended that Minister of Education in collaboration with Minister of health should organize seminars and workshops in school halls and town halls to enlighten the teachers on lassa fevers’ mode of transmission and its preventive measures.