Abstract:
Cholera is a disease caused by the consumption of food, mainly leafy green vegetables,
contaminated with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae which comes from water sources
contaminated by sewage. Cholera Outbreaks recur in many developing countries,
including Lebanon. On October 6, 2022, the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon
reported two confirmed Cholera cases to the World Health Organization. This study
aims to identify the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAPs) and the post-outbreak
practices among the Lebanese population. Associations between sociodemographic
correlates and KAP were assessed by logistic regression. Results showed that 23% of
the sample population have a high level of knowledge, 44.8% have a positive attitude,
10.5% have good practice and only 1.4% have good post-outbreak practices. Multiple
logistic regression showed that participants with high school level had significantly
lower odds of high knowledge compared to those having a university level degree
(OR=0.588, CI: 0.351, 0.987). The likelihood of having a positive attitude was
significantly associated with gender and education. Participants who are females are
more likely to have a positive attitude compared to males (OR= 1.783, CI 1.235, 2.575)
after adjusting for education. In addition, having negative attitude was associated with
having low knowledge (OR = 1.710 CI: 1.180, 2.478) and with having poor practice
(OR = 3.018, CI: 1.755, 5.189). These results can help in assessing the readiness of the
Lebanese population to face Cholera outbreaks and highlighting gaps to develop
programs and policies to prevent recurrence of the Cholera outbreak.
