CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Personal hygiene, according to Akerman (2001), is “the behaviors that an individual engages in to preserve their body health and well-being through cleanliness.” While many people mistake “cleanliness” for hygiene, hygiene is a broad concept that encompasses personal activities such as how often one should bathe, wash their hands, trim their fingernails, and change their clothes. Maintaining a pathogen-free environment is one of them. The cleanliness of our body, teeth, hair, clothing, and genital region is referred to as personal hygiene. It is one of the ways for interrupting disease transmission cycles. It also allows the individual to have a favorable aesthetic value in the perspective of those with whom he or she interacts (Beneson 1995). It’s also a good number for leading a healthier lifestyle.
As a result, personal hygiene is a personal hygiene measure taken to improve personal cleanliness in order to prevent disease transmission from source to susceptible hosts. It’s thought to be the most effective way to protect the health of communities with restricted treatment options due to a lack of health-care delivery networks. Inadequate hygiene practices contribute to a variety of health problems. The majority of these illnesses are contagious. Personal hygiene is translated into environmental hygiene when done appropriately (Beneson 1995).
The Greek, Roman, and Egyptian civilizations all placed a great importance on hygiene and cleanliness. The usage of private and public baths and latrines, body cleansing, lice prevention, and the placement of water pipelines and sewage ditches were all intensively studied.
A communicable disease is defined as an illness caused by the transmission of an infectious agent or a toxic product from an infected person, animal, or reservoir to a susceptible host, either directly or indirectly via an intermediate plant or animal host, vector, or environment, according to Altekruse et al. (2001). It can also be defined as an infection caused by a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises as a result of the agent or its toxic products being transmitted to a vulnerable host from an infected human, animal, or inanimate reservoir. Transmission can take place directly between individuals or via a plant or animal host, vector, or inanimate environment.
The ability of infectious diseases to interrupt or terminate human life still exists today, particularly in low-income countries. When infectious illnesses mutate and become resistant to currently available human control systems, this risk may increase. The plague spread across Europe and Asia in the fourteenth century, killing and destroying an estimated one-third to half of Europe’s population, and has long been ingrained in the folk culture of the western world (Huntingdon 2002). The 1918–1919 Spanish (swine) influenza pandemic may have killed one-third of the world’s population. It was extremely severe, killing between 50 and 100 million people and killing more young men than World War I, with a case fatality rate of more than 2.5 percent, particularly among young adults (Tautenberger, 2006). Smallpox, tuberculosis, syphilis, measles, cholera, and influenza pandemics have highlighted the explosive potential and epidemic nature of infectious diseases. Other diseases have been brought under control, and some of them may be eliminated as public health concerns in the future. New and recurring communicable diseases continue to emerge despite this. Controlling communicable diseases is a primary role of public health, according to Huntingdon (2002). The spread of AIDS in the 1980s, cholera epidemics in Asia, Africa, and South America, diphtheria in the former Soviet Union, measles in Western Europe in 2010, and diphtheria and pertussis outbreaks in a number of western countries from 2011 to 2013 are all reminders.
Throughout the nineteenth century, numerous discoveries aided in the understanding of communicable diseases. For example, John Snow discovered that contaminated water causes cholera in 1854; Dr. Semmelweis discovered the importance of handwashing before attending a child’s birth in 1845; and Louis Pasteur discovered that disease is caused by microorganisms (extremely small organisms that can only be seen through a microscope) around this time.
Hygiene, both personal and environmental, has been demonstrated to be effective in the prevention of communicable diseases.
While sanitation and infection control are important aspects of environmental health, it’s also important to be aware of emerging issues like global warming and the links between medical diseases like heart disease and our environment and lifestyles.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
When the number of people afflicted with a certain sickness exceeds the normal level, a communicable disease epidemic or outbreak occurs. Anecdotal evidence suggests that humans has attempted to manage infectious diseases that have arisen over time. The World Health Organization, for example, has launched campaigns and initiatives to raise awareness and prevent communicable diseases. Because of their mobility, humans have long been recognized as the principal agents of communicable disease (Rooke, 2012).
Cars with poorly constructed windows and insufficient seating capacity and layout have been produced as a result of the lack of universal conversion standards for these vehicles, or the lack of adherence and enforcement of those that do exist.
Inadequate ventilation and congestion in these vehicles result, potentially aiding the spread of infectious diseases. The problem is exacerbated by the filthy interiors of certain vehicles (Garrett-Jones 2000). Furthermore, due to the lack of an appropriate ventilation system equal to that found on aircraft, there is a risk of communicable disease transmission when air-conditioned buses are employed. Furthermore, people’s lack of hygiene on public transportation (e.g., coughing or sneezing without covering their mouth and nose, and openly spitting while in a vehicle) has the potential to transmit infectious diseases across society (Jetten, Focks 1998).
Despite these concerns, little research on approaches for reducing the spread of infectious diseases has been performed in Nigeria. Environmental hygiene and sanitation in Nigeria are at an all-time low, with garbage-filled streets, open defecation, and insufficient public sanitation. Recent cholera and meningitis epidemics in Ghana, as well as Ebola outbreaks in neighboring African nations, highlight the vital need for research that documents current methods and techniques for dealing with the problem (Wale, 2015). As a result, this study attempted to fill a gap by concentrating on the function of personal and environmental cleanliness in the transmission of infectious diseases.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The fundamental goal of this research is to look into the role of personal and environmental cleanliness in the spread of infectious illnesses. Specifically, this research aims to:
Find out how common communicable diseases are in Kabba.
Determine whether poor sanitation practices in Kabba play a role in the spread of infectious diseases.
Determine the methods by which infectious diseases are spread in Kabba.
Determine whether or how effective personal and environmental cleanliness measures in Kabba help to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
In Kabba, identify the elements that influence good personal and environmental hygiene practices.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study will be guided by the following research questions:
Is there a high prevalence of communicable diseases in Kabba?
Is there a link between poor sanitation and the frequency of infectious diseases in Kabba?
What are the many ways that communicable diseases are spread in Kabba?
Is it true that effective personal and environmental hygiene practices in Kabba reduce the spread of communicable diseases?
What elements influence Kabba’s effective personal and environmental hygiene practices?
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of this research could aid relevant agencies in developing and improving infection prevention and control best practices. In addition, the study looked for other subtle ways in which infectious diseases could be acquired in the population that might go undiscovered. This would act as a public warning, allowing people to take preventative steps. The findings could also help politicians draft new legislation or reevaluate existing legislation targeted at reducing disease transmission in public spaces and raising public awareness about environmental cleanliness. Finally, this study will add to the growing body of knowledge about the role of personal and environmental cleanliness in the transmission of infectious diseases.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research will look into the prevalence of communicable diseases in Kabba, whether poor sanitation practices contribute to the prevalence of communicable diseases in Kabba, how communicable diseases are transmitted in Kabba, whether effective personal and environmental hygiene practices mitigate the transmission of communicable diseases in Kabba, and what factors influence effective personal and environmental hygiene practices in Kabba.
Residents of Kabba, Kogi State, will be chosen to participate in the study’s survey.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
While conducting the study, the researcher encountered minor setbacks, as with any human attempt. The researcher incurred additional financial expenses and spent additional time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as during the data collection process, due to the scarcity of literature on the subject as a result of the discourse’s nature, which is why the researcher chose a small sample size. This investigation was also carried out in conjunction with other intellectual endeavors by the researcher. Furthermore, the results cannot be extended to other secondary schools outside of the state because only a small number of respondents were chosen to complete the study instrument. Regardless of the constraints encountered throughout the inquiry, all components were minimized to ensure the greatest results and most productive research.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Hygiene is a set of practices used to keep one’s health in good shape. “Hygiene refers to situations and behaviors that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases,” according to the World Health Organization. Personal hygiene is the practice of keeping one’s body clean.
The act or process of sending something, or the state of being transmitted is known as transmission.
Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that develop as a result of the infection, presence, and proliferation of pathogenic (disease-causing) biologic agents in a human or other animal host.
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