ABSTRACT
Objective: It is important to evaluate dental students' knowledge, attitudes, perception toward COVID-19 infection control guidelines and its impact on their work.Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online-questionnaire included fifteen statements to assess awareness and knowledge about COVID-19 clinical manifestations and infection control practice protocols among dental students at Sinai University, Egypt. The response of participants to each statement was collected using Likert scale.Results: 486 participants completed the questionnaire-based survey. 75.72% of them had knowledge about the disease contagiousness, 85.98% knew about the symptoms of COVID-19, 91.77% recognized the actual incubation period of the disease, and 47.41% could identify those wild mammals like bats are the possible source of COVID-19, while 68.67% were aware of the spread of virus transmission through interpersonal contacts. 432(88.9%) responders were aware of the infection control guidelines, moreover, they know the ways to prevent the spreading of the virus. 423(87%) responders perceived that dentists are at higher risk than other healthcare professionals. 79.38% of participants gained their information about COVID-19 through social media.Conclusion: North Sinai dental students had a correctitude amount of knowledge, with positive awareness about COVID-19. Government must emphasize the role of social media to spread accurate COVID-19 awareness campaigns.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nurses represent the largest section of the health-care workforce, and lack of sleep has an adverse influence on them, particularly during pandemics such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It causes not only health problem but also poor work results and an increased risk of medical errors. AIM: The goal of the study was to determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality among nurses during COVID-19 outbreaks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among a group of nurses in the Al-Madinah region of Saudi Arabia at the National Guard Health Affairs in 2020 (1st year of the COVID-19 crisis). Data were collected using a validated questionnaire with two sections: Sociodemographic data such as age, nationality, family status, gender, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. RESULTS: There were 238 nurses in the report. 37.8% of them were found to be between the ages of 31 and 35, while 24.4% were under the age of 30. The nurses were mostly female (84%). Sleep latency, sleep disruption, overall subjective sleep quality, and sleep length were the most widely identified sleep problems. Sixty-six percent of the nurses said they had a poor night’s sleep. None of the demographic variables analyzed had a significant relationship with overall sleep quality. CONCLUSION: Majority of nurses working at the National Guard Health Affairs and primary health-care centers in Al-Medina, Saudi Arabia, experience poor sleep quality, during the 1st year of COVID-19 crisis regardless of their demographic characteristics.
ABSTRACT
In November 2002, a virus known as SARS-CoV was identified in Guangdong, China, and it was implicated as the etiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Seventeen years later, in the same month of November, a similar disease with more dramatic outcomes was identified in neighboring Wuhan. It has been six months since the identification of first cases of COVID-19 pandemic;however, unveiling clinical characteristics and modes of transmission of the disease are taking longer than expected. This overview aims to highlight some important points regarding the mode of transmission for which continuously surprising facts are being revealed every day. We also raise some vital questions to alert the scientific community to find the right answers and minimize the drastic fatal outcomes of this disease. It can be stated that SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted as aerosol infection as well as through contacting infected surfaces. The possible role of abdominal gases as a route of spread of the virus should be considered and a fecal sample might be a useful diagnostic tool. Moreover, medical face masks are not protective from virus transmission during treating COVID-19 patients in settings where aerosol-generating procedures are performed. Doffing of PPE for healthcare workers needs more attention as this might be a source of infection unless additional measures of PPE disinfection are employed before doffing.