The relevance of the social networking media in Ebola virus disease prevention and control in Southwestern Nigeria

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Abstract

Introduction

The Social Media (SM) is fast becoming a huge avenue to create and spread health awareness amongst youths. Meanwhile news surrounding the on-going Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa are frightening. This study assessed the relevance of the social networking media in spreading awareness about EVD prevention and control in Southwestern Nigeria.

Methods

Descriptive cross sectional study among 400 youths selected using multistage sampling method. Research instruments used were semi structured self administered questionnaires that were analyzed using the SPSS software version 17.0.

Results

Three hundred and eighty (95.0%) of respondents were members of a social network. Several misconceptions trailed the spread of information about EVD. Though only 21(7.3%) bothered to ascertain the reliability of such information before use, 332 (83.0%) believed that SM can also be used to dispel rumours on health information, 337(84.3%) said they would like the use of SM regulated, while 206 (51.6%) still believed that SM is effective in disseminating health information among youths. Only 79.4% had good knowledge of EVD, and 30.7% of respondents had misinformation about EVD. Determinants of good level of knowledge about EVD through SM contacts include being a male, having SM as the first source of information on EVD and believing that SM could assist to disseminate and improve health information.

Conclusion

Misconceptions spread through the SM fuelled the ongoing EVD outbreak in West Africa. There is a need for the concerned authority to create awareness through SM contacts as well as regulate its use.

Most cited references 16

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Siddhartha Mahanty, Mike Bray (2004)

The filoviruses, marburgvirus and ebolavirus, cause epidemics of haemorrhagic fever with high case-fatality rates. The severe illness results from a complex of pathogenetic mechanisms that enable the virus to suppress innate and adaptive immune responses, infect and kill a broad variety of cell types, and elicit strong inflammatory responses and disseminated intravascular coagulation, producing a syndrome resembling septic shock. Most experimental data have been obtained on Zaire ebolavirus, which causes uniformly lethal disease in experimentally infected non-human primates but produces a broader range of outcomes in naturally infected human beings. 10-30% of patients can survive the illness by mobilising adaptive immune responses, and there is limited evidence that mild or symptomless infections also occur. The other filoviruses that have caused human disease, Sudan ebolavirus, Ivory Coast ebolavirus, and marburgvirus, produce a similar illness but with somewhat lower case-fatality rates. Variations in outcome during an epidemic might be due partly to genetically determined differences in innate immune responses to the viruses. Recent studies in non-human primates have shown that blocking of certain host responses, such as the coagulation cascade, can result in reduced viral replication and improved host survival.

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The second generation of Internet-based applications (i.e., Web 2.0), in which users control communication, holds promise to significantly enhance promotional efforts within social marketing campaigns. Web 2.0 applications can directly engage consumers in the creative process by both producing and distributing information through collaborative writing, content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, and syndication. Web 2.0 can also enhance the power of viral marketing by increasing the speed at which consumers share experiences and opinions with progressively larger audiences. Because of the novelty and potential effectiveness of Web 2.0, social marketers may be enticed to prematurely incorporate related applications into promotional plans. However, as strategic issues such as priority audience preferences, selection of appropriate applications, tracking and evaluation, and related costs are carefully considered, Web 2.0 will expand to allow health promotion practitioners more direct access to consumers with less dependency on traditional communication channels.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Pan Afr Med J

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Pan Afr Med J

Journal ID (publisher-id): PAMJ

Title: The Pan African Medical Journal

Publisher: The African Field Epidemiology Network

ISSN (Electronic): 1937-8688

Publication date (Electronic): 10 October 2015

Publication date Collection: 2015

Volume: 22

Issue: Suppl 1

Electronic Location Identifier: 7

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences Osun State University Osogbo, PMB 4494 Osogbo, Nigeria

[2 ]Physiology Department, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

[3 ]Osun State Hospitals Management Board, Osogbo, Nigeria

[4 ]Department of Community Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital Ido Ekiti Nigeria

[5 ]Family Health International 360, Abuja, Nigeria

Author notes

[& ] Corresponding author: Wasiu Olalekan Adebimpe, Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences Osun State University Osogbo, PMB 4494 Osogbo, Nigeria

Article

Publisher ID: PAMJ-SUPP-22-1-07

DOI: 10.11694/pamj.supp.2015.22.1.6165

PMC ID: 4709129

SO-VID: 0daa8855-2955-4d7c-852b-c1b3210cfc8b

License:

The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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The relevance of the social networking media in Ebola virus disease prevention and control in Southwestern Nigeria

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Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Most cited references 16

Pathogenesis of filoviral haemorrhagic fevers.

Enhancing promotional strategies within social marketing programs: use of Web 2.0 social media.

The use of collaborative electronic media for information sharing: an exploratory study of determinants

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Author notes

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