Trends in the population knowledge, attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 in the Buea municipality two months after the onset of the pandemic in Cameroon.

INTRODUCTION: two months into the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon, we assess the trend in the knowledge, attitude and practices of the population with the progression of the disease and the implementation of preventive methods put in place by the government of Cameroon and health partners organizations in response to the pandemic. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study conducted in selected health areas in the Buea municipality. A questionnaire was administered at the onset and two months later to collect data on the participants´ knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19. The data were analyzed in SPSS version 25. RESULTS: a total of 480 and 680 participants were sampled at onset and two months later respectively. Of the 26 indicators of knowledge assessed, 22 (84.61%) showed significant increase (p<0.05) with the most significant changes observed with the symptoms, mode of transmission and prevention of the disease. The overall proportion of people with correct knowledge moved from 9.1% at onset to 41.4% two months after. Only 1.5% of participants had poor knowledge of the pandemic two months after against 14.2% at the onset. There was a significant (p<0.05) positive change in the population perception, attitude and practices toward COVID-19 two months after the onset of the pandemic. CONCLUSION: the population knowledge, attitude and practices on COVID-19 showed a positive trend two months after the onset of the pandemic. The implementation of government and health stakeholder preventive measures together with the incidence of the pandemic in Cameroon probably had a positive impact on the positive trend observed. There is a need for continuous sensitization to completely fill the knowledge gap of the population on COVID-19.

COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in a conflict affected area of the South West Region of Cameroon.

INTRODUCTION: since December 2019, the world is experiencing, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Virus SARS-CoV-2. It is feared that the pandemic maybe more devastating in conflict affected areas in the world. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to the COVID-19 in Buea municipality, Cameroon. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study carried out in communities selected from 5 health areas of the Buea Health District. A questionnaire was administered to collect data on the knowledge, attitudes and practices on COVID-19. The knowledge was measured using a 26-points Liker scale on awareness, mode of transmission, clinical manifestation, site of the infection and prevention. The data was analyzed in SPSS version 25. RESULTS: of the 545 particpants who consented, 21.9% had a correct knowledge of COVID-19, 43.8% had intermediate knowledge, 34.4% had poor knowledge and 11.93% had no knowledge. Majority of the participants (73.3%) knew they were at risk of contacting the infection. They were aware that cleaning and disinfecting the environment (78.8%), reducing contact with animals (56.3%) could help prevent the infection. Even though participants knew about the face mask (93.5%) and hand sanitizers (88.8%), only 21.7% and 32.9% had purchased them respectively. Few participants reported that they will go to a man of God (6.0%), native doctor (3.5%) and auto-medication (25.8%) if infected. CONCLUSION: There is still a knowledge gap in the Buea population with respect to COVID-19. The population is aware of the disease and preventive measures, but few have taken steps to procure essential tools for the prevention. There is need to intensify sensitization to fill the knowledge gap the population has with regards to COVID-19.