AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MERS-COV AMONG VISITORS OF THE PRIMARY HEALTH CENTERS, IN TAIF CITY, KSA IN 2021

Background: MERS-CoV was firstly determined as a reason of human disease when it was first evacuated from an adult patient lung sample; this patient was admitted to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with severe lungs inflammation and died then because of multi-organ failure. Several outbreaks then followed disease identification. Study aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) among PHC visitors in Taif city, KSA.

Methods: Cross-sectional study design was adopted to answer the research hypothesis, A self-administered questionnaire containing knowledge questions was distributed and completed by 500 participants. The research focused on five points, 1- General information regarding MERS- COV, 2- Knowledge about ways of transmission, 3- Knowledge about the symptoms of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, 4- How to prevent the spread of this infection, 5- The groups at greatest risk of exposure to infection.

Results: The study included 500 subjects. Of all, 56% have heard about the MERS-CoV before. This was significantly associated with gender (P=0.027) and age (P=0.006). Moreover, 82.2% of participants were willing to learn more about the syndrome, which was more common among males (57.2%, P=0.006). Participants demonstrated a relatively good level of knowledge about transmission, causes, risk of exposure to MERS-CoV. In our study, patients were aware of prevention methods from MERS-CoV infections, as 82.4% and 87.3% regarded using facial masks in crowded places and keeping a distance from infected subjects were preventive measures, respectively. Healthcare services providers (72.6%), older people (85%), and people with weak immunity (90%) were regarded high risk groups by participants.

Conclusion: The results of this research can be used to understand the knowledge and attitude towards MERS-COV. The majority of the samples had good knowledge about the MERS-COV and the symptoms and the affecting factors. In addition, the sample showed high level of knowledge regarding the ways of transmission. Gender was a significant factor affecting the knowledge about the MERS-COV, which can represent that there is different level of knowledge regarding this infection between males and females, which can be a key factor for any future health awareness campaign about the Middle East respiratory syndrome.