Attitudes and Practices in the Prevention of Purulent Ophthalmia Neonatal in Senegalese Hospital

Introduction: Ophthalmia or neonatal conjunctivitis is a major public health problem in developing countries. Recommendations have been issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of Senegal for the prevention of this scourge. The objective of the work was to assess the level of knowledge and practice of these recommendations by health workers. Methodology: This was a multicenter, prospective study conducted from March 1st to June 30th, 2013 in nine (9) health structures at the four (4) districts of Dakar. All agents who performed care at birth were included. Results: We interviewed 108 health care workers in the nine targeted structures. More than half of the respondents (54.6%) interviewed were in a maternity ward with midwives (41.7%) who were clearly in the majority. As far as knowledge is concerned, the practice of neonatal eye care was systematic for 88% of the nursing staff at birth. Regarding attitudes and practices, the majority of caregivers cleaned (67.6%) the eyes before instillation of eye drops. More than eighty-four percent (84.3%) of the caregivers surveyed routinely practiced eye care in the newborn at birth. The majority of the agents prescribed Rifamycin (47.2%) as a single dose in each eye. Paediatricians recommended one day of treatment while midwives and general practitioners recommended 7 days. Conclusion: Overall, the recommendations are not well implemented by caregivers. It would then be necessary to improve the level of information for harmonization and application of the recommendations.