Epidemiology and psychosocial assessment of COVID-19 among workers of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control infected with COVID-19

Authors

  • Fatima Saleh Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2246-0169
  • David Idowu Olatunji Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja
  • Ehichioya Ofeimun Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2961-1978
  • Evaezi Okpokoro Institute of Human Virology, Abuja
  • Emily Crawford Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja
  • Mahmood Dalhat Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja
  • Ehimario Igumbor Centre for Infectious Disease Research, Nigerian institute of Medical Research, Lagos https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6313-6031
  • Sunday Eziechina Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja
  • Stella Inweregbu Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7944-9457
  • Chinwe Lucia Ochu Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0630-7332
  • Ihekweazu Chikwe Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2023.2185

Keywords:

COVID-19 pandemic, occupational health, Health care workers

Abstract

Background. COVID-19 is a global health crisis. By 2021, Nigeria had 230,000 cases. As the national public health institute, NCDC leads the COVID-19 response. Due to constant contact with infected patients, agency employees are a t high-risk. Here, we describe the transmission and psychosocial effects of COVID-19 among infected NCDC workers as a learning curve for mini-mizing occupational transmission among frontline public health workers in future outbreaks.

Methods. We approved and enrolled all NCDC COVID-19-infected personnel from November to December 2020. We collect-ed data using SurveyMonkey. STATA 14 analyzed the data.

Results. 172 of 300 afflicted NCDC staff participated in this study. One-third were between 30 and 39; most were male (104, 60.5%). Most participants worked in the lab (30%) or surveillance (24%). Only 19% (33/172) of participants con-firmed pandemic deployment. Most reported interaction with a confirmed case (112/65.1%). Most people (78, 45.3%) felt unhappy when diagnosed. Anger, worry, and low motivation also ranked high (19). The majority reported adequate financial, moral, or psychosocial assistance (26, 70.6%).

Conclusions. NCDC staff had a high SARS-CoV-2 infection rate and emotional damage. We urge stricter infection control methods when sending staff for outbreaks response to prevent additional transmission, as well as ongoing psychosocial and eco-nomic assistance for afflicted workers.

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Published

07-02-2023

How to Cite

Saleh, F., Olatunji, D. I., Ofeimun, E., Okpokoro, E., Crawford, E., Dalhat, M., Igumbor, E., Eziechina, S., Inweregbu, S., Ochu, C. L., & Chikwe, I. (2023). Epidemiology and psychosocial assessment of COVID-19 among workers of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control infected with COVID-19. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2023.2185

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