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THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PATIENTS TOWARD CORONAVIRUS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Zahra Abdulmohsen Madan Alfateel, Sukinah Sadiq Alzahir, Sukaina Abdulkareem Ghannam, Ameera Saeed Elahi, Hayat Ahmed Mulla, Mohamed Abdulrahman Bakhsh, Sami samran alrehaili, Mohammed Rafat Abduljawad, Munwah Salah Alrushaydan, Waad Saad Alshehri

Background: The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a virus infection causes by a coronavirus affects respiratory system. Coronaviruses are transmittable infection to humans, and was found in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia remains on the top of this dangerous respiratory infection which is also associated with high mortality rate. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude among Saudis population towards Middle East respiratory syndrome.Methods: A cross-sectional study based on questionnaires was distributed randomly on 300 Saudi participants in public health care centers in Saudi Arabia in the period from November 2018 to December 2018. Participants included criteria; Saudi, aged 20-50 years old, males and females. Results: Total 300 participants were filled the questionnaires, more than one-third of participants aged 20-30 years old. Regarding the knowledge we found that majority of participants 100% have heard about the MERS-corona Virus. Majority of participants (79%) knew that it was caused by a virus and the most of them were aware that it was transmitted by camels (68%). high numbers of participants do not know about how transmission happens (28%), and how to prevent this disease (47%).in addition, one-third of participants do not know the signs and symptoms of corona virus (35%). In addition, low numbers of participants obtain their information from public campaigns. Conclusion: It was found that the level of knowledge about MERS-Corona Virus amongst the Saudi population was relatively low and needs to increase the level of awareness towards MERS-Corona Virus. More campaigns should be conducted to fill the gaps. Keywords: MERS; Coronavirus; knowledge; attitude; KSA.

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