Survey of Students Regarding Zika Infection: Is the Next Generation Aware of the Dangers?

• 作者: Charles Wollmuth Claudio Pergolizzi Domenico Foti Jo Ann Le Quang Joseph V. Pergolizzi Megan Nalamachu Peter Magnusson Robert B. Raffa Robert Taylor Sumiyo Umeda-Raffa Virginia Bingol
• 来源期刊: 药理与制药(英文)
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: Zika Virus MICROCEPHALY Guillain-Barré Syndrome SURVEY High-School Students
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（11）
• 页码范围: 306-315
• 页数: 10页
• 分类号: H31

摘要

In 2016 and 2017 an outbreak of the Zika virus</span><span style="font-family:""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">in new locales shocked populations</span><span style="font-family:""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">into awareness of the disease and of its imputed ability to cause serious fetal abnormalities, particularly microcephaly. There was a major reduction in travel by people of child-bearing age. But the temporary regression in </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">the </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">spread, and preoccupation with COVID-19, seem to have overshadowed concern about Zika virus. In order to investigate this phenomenon, we conducted an online survey of 157 high-school students from four schools in different parts of the United States regarding their knowledge, practices, and attitudes about Zika virus. The mean age of the respondents was 16.4 </span><span style="font-family:""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">±</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> 1.1 years, 55% were girls, and 60% attended public (rather than private) schools. Most students (70%) had taken no steps to prevent Zika, but said they would tell their parents or a physician if they were exposed. They relied primarily on school and the internet (76% and 72%, respectively) as trusted sources of information about the virus. The majority (73%) said they would spend some time to learn more about Zika;girls exhibited more concern than did boys. Half (50%) of respondents knew the signs and symptoms of Zika, but only 20% knew all the ways Zika could be transmitted and 31% why Zika prevention was crucial for pregnant women and their partners. The results of this study suggest that comprehensive national preventive healthcare educational programs are needed.