Knowledge of Health Workers in Public Health Centers of the Health District of Lomé Commune on Dengue

Background: Dengue is under-reported in the indicators and directories of health statistics in Togo and the diagnostic hypothesis of dengue during medical consultations is often not mentioned. Objective: The objective is to assess healthcare workers’ knowledge of dengue and its management in public health centers in the health district of Lomé Commune. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study that took place from November 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 in the health district of Lomé Commune. Results: This study involved 280 healthcare workers out of 310 concerned, i.e., a participation rate of 90.32%, distributed over the 22 public health centers of the health district of Lomé Commune. The age of the healthcare workers ranged from 18 to 58 years with an average age of 33 years (±8.14). The age group [25 - 35 years] was more represented with 53.20%. Physicians were more represented with 46.07%. The majority of healthcare professionals were aware of the existence of dengue (90.36%). The essential clinical signs were more or less known, especially by the physicians. Dengue hemorrhagic fever was the most known clinical form and represented 70%. Treatment was symptomatic according to the majority (63.21%) and was based on analgesics (71.43%) and antipyretics (65%). The existence of a vaccine is not well known and represented 16.79%; the use of impregnated mosquito net is more cited as a secondary means of prevention, 77.86%. Conclusion: Dengue is not well known by the health professionals involved in the survey. Nevertheless, physicians have a more or less good knowledge compared to paramedics. In practice, the diagnosis of dengue is often not mentioned.