{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T20:23:38Z","timestamp":1791491018053,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767312000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"JSPS KAKENHI","award":["JP17H04675"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JP17H04675"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Millions of healthcare workers experience percutaneous exposure to bloodborne communicable infectious disease pathogens annually, with the risk of contracting occupationally acquired infections. In this study, we aimed to assess the status of occupational safety and outbreak preparedness in Congolese nurses and laboratory technicians in Kongo central and the Katanga area, amidst multiple ongoing public health emergencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This was a multicenter analytical cross-sectional study conducted in five referral hospitals located in Kongo central province and the Katanga area between 2019 and 2020 amidst Ebola, Yellow fever, Cholera and Chikungunya outbreaks. Participants were adult A0 grade nurses, A1 nurses, A2 nurses and medical laboratory technicians (N = 493). They answered a structured, self-administered questionnaire related to hospital hygiene and standard precautions for occupational infection prevention. The majority of the respondents were females (53.6%), and 30.1% of them have never participated in a training session on hospital infection prevention during their career. The proportions of those who have been immunized against hepatitis B virus (HBV) was markedly low, at 16.5%. Of the respondents, 75.3% have been using safety-engineered medical devices (SEDs), whereas 93.5% consistently disinfected medical devices after use. Moreover, 78% of the respondents used gloves during medical procedures and 92.2% wore masks consistently. A large majority of the respondents, 82.9%, have been recapping the needles after use. Regarding participation in outbreak response, 24.5% and 12.2% of the respondents were Chikungunya and Cholera epidemic responders, respectively; 1.8% have served in Ebola outbreak sites. The proportion of the respondents who sustained at least one percutaneous injury by needlestick or sharp device, blood\/body fluid splash or both in the previous 12-month period was high, 89.3% (41.8% for injury, 59.2% for BBF event), and most of them (73%) reported over 11 events. Compared to laboratory technicians, nurses had higher odds for sustaining percutaneous injury and BBF events [OR = 1.38 (0.16); p &lt; 0.01], whereas respondents with longer working experience were less likely to sustain those events [OR = 0.47 (0.11); p &lt; 0.001]. Findings from this study suggest that Congolese nurses and laboratory technicians experience a high frequency of injury and BBF events at work, and remain at high risk for occupationally acquired infection. There is a need for periodic capacity-building training for the healthcare workforce to improve infection prevention in health settings, the provision of sufficient and appropriate PPE and SEDs, post-exposure follow-up and keeping records of occupational injuries in hospitals in Congolese healthcare settings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11010014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T09:18:56Z","timestamp":1767345536000},"page":"14","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Occupational Infection Prevention Among Nurses and Laboratory Technicians Amidst Multiple Health Emergencies in Outbreak-Prone Country, D.R. Congo"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8847-3667","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nlandu Roger","family":"Ngatu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sakiko","family":"Kanbara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Nursing Section, School of Disaster Nursing, Kobe City College of Nursing, Kobe 651-2103, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christian","family":"Wansu-Mapong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dental Medicine, University de Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 152, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9886-8630","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel Kuezina","family":"Tonduangu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 127, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ngombe","family":"Leon-Kabamba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina P.O. Box 279, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Berthier","family":"Nsadi-Fwene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 127, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bertin","family":"Mindje-Kolomba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina P.O. Box 279, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antoine","family":"Tshimpi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa P.O. Box 127, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6712-3951","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kanae","family":"Kanda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chisako","family":"Okai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiromi","family":"Suzuki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3843-654X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nzaji","family":"Michel-Kabamba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Kamina, Kamina P.O. Box 279, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georges","family":"Balenda-Matondo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Unit, Louis-Pasteur Medical Center, Pretoria 0002, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nobuyuki","family":"Miyatake","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Akira","family":"Nishiyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tomomi","family":"Kuwahara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Akihito","family":"Harusato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2025, September 03). ILO\/WHO Joint ILO\/WHO Guidelines on Health Services and HIV\/AIDS. International Labour Organization and World Health Organization, 2005. Available online: https:\/\/www.ilo.org\/sites\/default\/files\/wcmsp5\/groups\/public\/@ed_protect\/@protrav\/@ilo_aids\/documents\/publication\/wcms_116240.pdf."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Michel-Kabamba, N., Ngatu, N.R., Leon-Kabamba, N., Katumbo-Mukemo, A., Mukuku, O., Ngoyi-Mukonkole, J., Ngoie-Mwamba, G., Kilolo-Ngoie, E., Bwana-Kangulu, I., and Kafusthi-Mukemo, D. (2021). Occupational COVID-19 prevention among Congolese healthcare workers: Knowledge, practices, PPE compliance and safety imperatives. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis., 6.","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed6010006"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1589","DOI":"10.2147\/RMHP.S254641","article-title":"Magnitude of needlestick and sharp injury and its associated factors among nurses working at health institutions in Western Ethiopia, 2020","volume":"13","author":"Abadiga","year":"2020","journal-title":"Risk Manag. Healthc. Policy"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lee, J.H., Cho, J.H., Kim, Y.J., Im, S.H., Jang, E.S., Kim, J.-W., Kim, H.B., and Jeong, S.-H. (2017). Occupational blood exposures in health care workers: Incidence, characteristics, and transmission of bloodborne pathogens in South Korea. BMC Public Health, 17.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-017-4844-0"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.36401\/JQSH-23-14","article-title":"Adherence to infection prevention practice standard protocol and associated factors among healthcare workers","volume":"7","author":"Babore","year":"2024","journal-title":"Glob. J. Qual. Saf. Healthc."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Knight, G.M., Pham, T.M., Stimson, J., Funk, S., Jafari, Y., Pople, D., Evans, S., Yin, M., Brown, C.S., and Bhattacharya, A. (2022). The contribution of hospital-acquired infections to the COVID-19 epidemic in England in the first half of 2020. BMC Infect. Dis., 22.","DOI":"10.21203\/rs.3.rs-1140332\/v1"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(19)30674-7","article-title":"Lancet Infectious Disease Commission","volume":"20","author":"Lee","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cen, Y., Lao, C., Li, Z., Zhao, H., Wang, T., Fan, C., Liu, B., Zhao, Z., Zou, Y., and Lin, G. (2025). Association between infection prevention and control safety culture and healthcare workers\u2019 compliance with infection control measures: A cross-sectional study. Front. Public Health, 13.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1668493"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e299","DOI":"10.1017\/S0950268819001912","article-title":"Infectious disease outbreaks in the African region: Overview of events reported to the World Health Organization in 2018","volume":"147","author":"Mboussou","year":"2019","journal-title":"Epidemiol. Infect."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e991","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(20)30281-3","article-title":"The colliding epidemics of COVID-19, Ebola and measles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo","volume":"8","author":"Nachega","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMsr1904253","article-title":"The ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2018\u20132020","volume":"381","author":"Moeti","year":"2019","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Muzembo, B.A., Ntontolo, N.P., Ngatu, R.N., Khatiwada, J., Ngombe, K.L., Numbi, O.L., Nzaji, K.M., Maotela, K.J., Ngoyi, M.J., and Suzuki, T. (2020). Local perspectives on Ebola during its tenth outbreak in DR Congo: A nationwide qualitative study. PLoS ONE, 15.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0241120"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1080\/20477724.2019.1650227","article-title":"The cat that kills people: Community beliefs about Ebola origins and implications for disease control in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo","volume":"113","author":"Kasereka","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pathog. Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajic.2019.09.001","article-title":"Patients\u2019 capacity, opportunity, motivation, and perception of inpatient and hygiene","volume":"48","author":"Kinghton","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. J. Infect. Control."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajic.2011.01.021","article-title":"Practice of universal precautions and risk of occupational blood-borne viral infection among Congolese healthcare workers","volume":"40","author":"Ngatu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Am. J. Infect. Control."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1016\/j.je.2016.09.010","article-title":"Epidemiology of ebolavirus disease (EVD) and occupational EVD in healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa: Necessity for strengthened public health preparedness","volume":"27","author":"Ngatu","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1162","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6850a3","article-title":"Ebola virus disease outbreak\u2014Democratic Republic of the Congo, August 2018\u2013November 2019","volume":"68","author":"Aruna","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mrb. Mrtal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shindano, T.A., and Horsmans, Y. (2024). Low level of awareness and prevention of hepatitis B among Congolese healthcare workers: Urgent need for policy implementation. Front. Public Health, 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1463455"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"608","DOI":"10.1093\/infdis\/jiaa747","article-title":"Risk factors for Ebola Exposure in Health Care Workers in Boende, Tshuapa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo","volume":"226","author":"Doshi","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1186\/s13756-024-01381-w","article-title":"Compliance with infection prevention and control standard precautions and factors associated with noncompliance among healthcare workers working in public hospitals in Addis-Ababa","volume":"13","author":"Senbato","year":"2024","journal-title":"Antimicrob. Resist. Infect. Control"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Eze, P., Idemili, J.C., Nwoko, F.O., James, N., and Lawani, L.O. (2024). Epidemic preparedness and response capacity against infectious disease outbreaks in 186 countries, 2018\u20132022. BMC Infect. Dis., 24.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-024-10168-8"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.33425\/2639-9474.1058","article-title":"Nurses\u2019 practices towards prevention and control of nosocomial infections in Madonna University Teaching Hospital Elele Rivers State","volume":"2","author":"Omisakin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nurs. Primary Care"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E1","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v6i1.597","article-title":"Attitudes, knowledge and practices of healthcare workers regarding occupational exposure of pulmonary tuberculosis","volume":"6","author":"Bhebhe","year":"2014","journal-title":"Afr. J. Prim. Health Care Fam. Med."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yazie, T.D., Sharew, G.B., and Abebe, W. (2019). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of healthcare professionals regarding infection prevention at Gondar University referral hospital, northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study. BMC Res. Notes, 12.","DOI":"10.1186\/s13104-019-4605-5"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Desta, M., Ayenew, T., Sitotaw, N., Tegegne, N., Dires, M., and Getie, M. (2018). Knowledge, practice and associated factors of infection prevention among healthcare workers in Debre Markos referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Health Serv. Res., 18.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-018-3277-5"},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"416","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice of infection prevention measures among health care workers in Wolaitta Sodo Otona teaching and referral hospital","volume":"6","author":"Hussein","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Nurs. Care"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.3329\/nimcj.v10i1.39330","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice of staff nurses on hospital acquired infections in tertiary care hospital of Dhaka city","volume":"10","author":"Kabir","year":"2018","journal-title":"North Int. Med. Coll."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1177\/1757177414558957","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice of standard precautions of infection control by hospital workers in two tertiary hospitals in Nigeria","volume":"16","author":"Ogoina","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Infect. Prev."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"286","article-title":"Standard precautions practice among health care workers in public health facilities of Mekelle special zone, Northern Ethiopia","volume":"4","author":"Gebresilassie","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Community Med. Health Educ."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3792442","DOI":"10.1155\/cjid\/3792442","article-title":"Occupational exposure to needle stick and sharp injuries and postexposure prophylaxis utilization among healthcare professionals in Southwest Ethiopia","volume":"2025","author":"Yosef","year":"2025","journal-title":"Can. J. Infect. Dis. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1016\/j.afjem.2019.08.001","article-title":"Cross-sectional survey on occupational needle stick injuries amongst prehospital emergency medical service personnel in Johannesburg","volume":"9","author":"Laher","year":"2019","journal-title":"Afr. J. Emerg. Med."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.2486\/indhealth.2019-0088","article-title":"Anxiety and psychological impact associated with needle stick and sharp device injury among tertiary workers, Vientiane, Lao PDR","volume":"58","author":"Matsubara","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ind. Health"}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/1\/14\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T10:18:21Z","timestamp":1767349101000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/1\/14"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed11010014"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed11010014","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-6366","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]}}}