Awareness among a Saudi Arabian university community of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus following an outbreak

Abstract

This study aimed to measure the level of awareness of faculty members, staff and students in a female Saudi Arabian university community towards Middle East respiratory syndrome coronvirus (MERS-CoV) following an outbreak. A self-administered questionnaire containing knowledge questions was distributed and completed by the 1541 participants. The overall knowledge score was 43.2%. It was only significantly higher in participants from the health colleges (50.6%). The majority (78.9%) of the respondents recognized the typical symptoms of MERS-CoV but only 67.1% knew the recommended preventive hygiene practices. Awareness of disease epidemiology, severity, fatality rate and treatment was very low. The knowledge of health care workers/ students of the recommended precautions that should be applied when dealing with patients was poor (55.5%). Significant improvement in educational programmes for both the health care and non-health care professionals is warranted, particularly in crowded educational institutions or workplaces.