GET Journal of Biosecurity and One Health(June 2022)

Attitude Towards Covid-19 Vaccines and Willingness to be Vaccinated Among Orientation Camp Dwellers in IkareAkoko, Ondo State, Nigeria.

Authors: Amoo SO¹, Tijani B², Onuigbo TI¹, Oraegbu JI¹*, Dorcas K², Agboola HA¹, Obi JC¹, Adeniji ET¹, Stephen K², Temi F², Ezike E², Akinreni T², Audu RA¹, Adegbola RA¹ and Salako BL¹

GET Journal of Biosecurity and One Health, Volume 1, Issue 2, (2022), Pages 31-42

Article Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccine; COVID-19 Vaccine Attitude; COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance; Camp Dwellers.

DOI

Journal Volume & Issue

Volume 1, Issue 2

GET JOURNAL OF BIOSECURITY AND ONE HEALTH

Volume 1, No. 4, 2022

Pages 34-40

Ebola Survivors are not at Increased Risk for Gynecologic Surgeries

Gorpudolo-Dennis N1; Kennedy SB2*; Reilly C3 and Sankoh M1

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Redemption Hospital, New Kru Town, Montserrado County, Monrovia, Liberia.

2UL-PIRE Africa Center, An Infectious Disease Research Center, Ground Floor, Graduate School Building, University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia.

3Department of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

*Corresponding Author: Stephen B. Kennedy, MD, MPH, UL-PIRE Africa Center, An Infectious Disease Research Center
Ground Floor, Graduate School Building, University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia. Tel: +231 770 645 830

Orchid No: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0318-930X

ABSTRACT

As the result of multiple signs and symptoms, and complications observed among survivors of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), there is an assumption that survivors might experience perturbations within their clotting parameters. This may eventually lead to increased bleeding time, predisposing them to increased risk for surgical complications. This study aimed to comparatively review specific intra-operative parameters such as uterine fibroids and polyps among a number of EVD survivors and non survivors undergoing elective gynecologic surgeries at Redemption Hospital, a tertiary specialized referral hospital located within one of the EVD hotspots, in Liberia from January to October 2016. A case-control study was conducted wherein cases were referred from the Partnership for Research on Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in Liberia (PREVAIL), an EVD clinical trial platform, while controls were sampled from the general patient population, at Redemption Hospital. The controls were matched based on age, employment status and parity. All surgeries were performed by single surgeon based on a surgical checklist that included designated intra- and post-operative parameters. Statistical analysis such as counts, percentiles, confidence intervals and relative risks were performed to assess the differences between the cases and controls, respectively. Survivors were between the ages of 42 years and 44 years for controls with an average interval between discharge from the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) and surgical intervention of greater than one year. The median duration of surgical procedure was 60 minutes and blood loss of 250 ml in both groups. Besides the relative risks (RR) of receiving antibiotics for more than 3 days of 1.5 (85.7% vs. 57.1%) and hospitalization of more than 7 days of 0.25 (14% vs. 57%) for survivors as compared to controls, most of the indicators were not significantly different. The findings revealed that EVD survivors who present with benign tumors such as uterine fibroids, polyps, or adenomyosis, requiring elective uterine surgery such as myomectomy and/or hysterectomy are generally not at increased risk of surgical complications because most of the indicators (hospitalization, blood loss, antibiotics, etc.) were not significantly different between the two groups. Findings from this study may potentially revise the approaches used by gynecologists and general surgeons during encounters and/or interventions with patient(s) concerning emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).

Keywords: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs), Ebola Survivors, Uterine Surgery, Females, Liberia

Abstract

We assessed the awareness of COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, and willingness to be vaccinated among Nigerian camp dwellers. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. All National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and Officials in NYSC permanent orientation camp, Ikare Akoko, Ondo state who gave consent were enrolled in the study. A total of 848 participants were enrolled out of 1000 target population. Data were collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire. All data were analyzed using R 4.1.0. Chi-square tests was performed on statistically significant variables at p-values <0.05.The
average age of the respondents was 26.05 years (SD=4.8). Further analysis showed that 88% (n=677) were aged between 20 to 29 years with 50.1% (n=425) being male respondents. Sources of information about COVID-19 vaccine varied, but the top three mentioned sources were radio/television (53.5%, n=454), social media (32%, n=271), and health workers (13.4%, n=114). Majority of the respondents (81.9%, n=675) were willing to accept COVID-19 vaccination, with slightly more than half (67.6%, n=554) responding affirmatively to pay not more than ₦200 (0.49 USD) for the vaccine. Interestingly, only 5.8% were willing to pay more than ₦2000 (more than 5 USD) to be vaccinated. A greater proportion of the respondents are willing to accept and pay for COVID-19 vaccine. However, it is recommended that more advocacy on the importance of COVID-19 vaccine should be carried out periodically. Also, COVID-19 vaccines should be readily available at little or no cost to ensure widespread uptake.