Journal of Biology and Medicine: Open Access
Layman’s View of the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Incidence of Malaria and Intestinal Helminth Infections and Anxiety, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Enyindah AJ, Ekerette IB, Ezenwaka CO, and Amuzie CC
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdown in several countries which resulted into economic challenges. This article investigated the impact of the lockdown on the health of residents of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with emphasis on malaria and intestinal helminth infections and anxiety. This research was questionnaire based. Consent of respondents was sought before the questionnaires were administered. Descriptive statistics was used for data analyses. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed out of which 187 were returned. Respondents were comprised of 71 males and 102 females. Out of the 187 returned questionnaires, 148 (79.1%) reported to have suffered ill-health during the lockdown. Results showed that 28% of the respondents suffered malaria only, 25% malaria and anxiety, 20% malaria and intestinal helminths, 18% malaria, intestinal helminths and anxiety, while 3% suffered only intestinal helminth infections, 3% only anxiety, and 3% intestinal helminth and anxiety, respectively. Student ttests showed that the number that reported sick were significantly higher than those that reported to have been healthy throughout the lockdown (p=0.03). It was concluded that the lockdown significantly affected the health of respondents. It is therefore recommended that other strategies that would reduce the transmission of COVID-19 while enabling economic activities without adversely affecting the health of the populace should be advanced.
Keywords: COVID-19; Lockdown; Malaria; Intestinal helminth infection; Anxiety disorder.
Journal Information
- Journal Name: Journal of Biology and Medicine: Open Access
- Journal Abbreviation: J Bio Med Open Access
- Journal Code: JBMOA
- Format of Publication: Online
- Frequency of Publication: Two Issue a Year
- Language: English
- Starting Year: 2020
- Subject: Biology, Medicine, Medical Sciences
- Review Process: Single-Blind Peer-Review by Referees
- Time to 1st Decision: 1 to 4 weeks from date of submission
- Time to Acceptance: 3 to 6 weeks, depending upon the required revision cycles
- Time to Publication: 1 to 2 weeks from date of final submission
- Editor-in-Chief: CHEE KONG YAP
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