Improving Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge and Skills on Early Management of Invasive Fungal Infections in Nigeria: Needs Assessment and Strategic Planning

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is a life-threatening deep fungal infection that commonly affects immunocompromised or critically ill patients globally, especially in resource-limited settings such as Nigeria. This study aimed at evaluating contextspecific gaps in the management of patients with IFIs, hence, a hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 8 hospitals across 8 States in Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that 5(62.5%) hospitals have very few (˂ 3) or no specialists dedicated to their mycology benches. Three (37.5%) hospitals have no healthcare workers (HCWs) who have received training in mycosis, while 4(50%) hospitals have less than 6 HCWs who have received training in mycosis. Additionally, only 2(25%) hospitals have received less than 3 training support on mycosis diagnosis, whereas 6 (75%) of the hospitals never received any support at all. Six (75%), 4(50%), and 2(25%) of the hospitals respectively reported Candidiasis, Aspergillosis (the two common causes of IFIs), and Cutaneous mycosis as the most prevalent diagnosis cases in mycosis. This study, therefore, has identified areas (gaps) for improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of IFIs, which can be leveraged to raise knowledge of IFIs among HCWs and of course, enhance effective IFI treatment in hospital settings.