[Preparation of healthcare workers against the threat of Ebola virus disease in Ivory Coast]. / Préparation du personnel de santé d’une région sanitaire de Côte d’Ivoire face à la menace du virus Ebola.

INTRODUCTION: Since the declaration of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, the government of Ivory Coast has organized the training of medical staff in all health regions of the country. This study was conducted one month after this training in order to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of health workers concerning Ebola virus disease in an Ivory Coast health region their preparation in relation to this disease. METHODS: In May-June 2014, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of 176 health workers from private and public health facilities in 5 health districts. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 15.5% attended the training on Ebola disease organized by the Ministry of Health. They knew that the disease is transmitted from animals to humans by body fluids (85.6%), and from human to human by body fluids of a sick person or a cadavre (82.8%). 96% said they were at risk of contracting the disease. DISCUSSION: In view of the persistent threat of the disease, ignorance of certain aspects of the disease could be a weakness in the prevention of nosocomial transmission of the disease. Knowledge of the disease should lead to adoption of prevention measures. However, routine use of protection equipment, including gloves, depends on its availability. CONCLUSION: The lack of infection prevention and control equipment could be a weak point in preparation of the response to an Ebola disease outbreak.

[A description of the yaws infection and prevention conditions in the health district of Adzopé]. / Description de la situation du plan dans ie district sanitaire d'Adzopé : cas des localités d'Asseudji.

This article reports on a cross-sectional study which aims to describe the situation of yaws in the boroughs of Asseudji located in the health district of Adzopé. The study's population group consisted of 206 household heads, and 2182 subjects who were tested and examined for yaws. The primary sources of pollution levels for a household were domestic animal waste (100%) and garbage stored in close proximity to the household's dwelling (49%). Signs of over-crowding were found in 43.7% of households. The sore "mother yaw" is the most common manifestation of yaws (81.5%). However, the majority of household heads were ignorant of the supporting causes and risk factors (64.1%) and the contagious natures of the infection (52.9%). Among the 2182 subjects examined, 11 (5%) had contracted yaws. The proportion of households with at least one case of yaws was 3.4%. The results of this census demonstrate that swift and strong action should be taken in these towns to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic.

Perceptions and practice of health care workers regarding hepatitis B vaccination, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, 2016.

Barriers to immunization are seen in both the general population and the health care workforce. We conducted this study to determine the perception of health workers on vaccination and the immunization of their patients. This cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was carried out among the medical staff in Bouaké, from 10 January to 07 March 2016. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed using Epi info 2000 software and SPSS 17.0. The Chi-2 test and logistic regression were performed and the significance threshold of the tests was 5%. The vaccination status of the 291 health care workers (HCWs) for the hepatitis B virus (HBV) was statistically related to their participation in the course in vaccination during their training (ORa = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.04-2.75 P<0.05) and the systematic verification of the vaccination status of the patient was statistically related to the vaccination status of the HCW (ORa = 4.33, 95% CI: 2.97-8.18, P<0.05). Promoting the vaccination among the population should be dependent on the promotion among HCWs.