Assessment of Knowledge of Lassa fever Infection among the Undergraduate Students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

Background of study: Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease endemic to several countries in West Africa and first described in Lassa Town in Borno state, Nigeria. The spread of Lassa fever in Nigeria has necessitated the need to study the level of knowledge of her citizens regarding this infection.

Objective: To assess the knowledge of Lassa fever among Undergraduates in University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Method: This was cross sectional survey conducted in University of Nigeria, Nsukka with students in three faculties (Pharmacy, Medicine and Health Sciences) between July and October, 2016. Self-administered questionnaire was used. Data was analysed using SPSS (Statistical package for social sciences) version 16 and level of statistical significance set at p<0.05.

Result: The response rate was 83.3%. More than half of the population had poor knowledge of Lassa fever (64.7%). Gender, Faculty and academic level was strongly associated with knowledge of Lassa fever with p- value 0.013, 0.005, 0.001 respectively.

Conclusion: The overall knowledge of Lassa fever infection was poor among the students. This calls for an urgent need to increase knowledge level among students in higher institutions.