TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge, Attitudes, Risk Perception, Preparedness and Vaccine Intent of Health Care Providers towards the Nipah Virus in South India
AU - Himes, Lauren
AU - Shetty, Veena
AU - Prabhu, Sumathi
AU - Shetty, Avinash K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Wake Forest School of Medicine (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), Medical Student Research Program (NIH T35 Short-Term Medical Student Research Training Grant). The project also received support from the Benjamin H. Kean Travel Fellowship in Tropical Medicine (ASTMH).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Nipah virus (NiV) disease (NVD) remains a re-emerging public health threat in India. We assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception of NVD and future vaccine intent among a convenience sample of health care providers (HCP). The primary outcome measures were the knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception scores. Of 261 participants surveyed, 203 (77.8%) had heard of NiV and associated symptoms. The majority (248, 95%) identified the fruit bat as a primary NiV reservoir and 205 (79.8%) were aware of human-to-human transmission via droplets. Only 101 (38.7%) participants were aware that drinking date palm sap is a risk factor for transmission. Most HCP either agreed (117 (44.8%)) or strongly agreed (131 (50.2%)) that NiV is a serious illness. Less than half (121 (46.4%)) were aware of any institutional protocol for NiV; 235 (90.7%) of HCP stated that they need more information about prevention and treatment options. Knowledge scores were significantly higher among physicians compared to nurses whereas nurses and academic providers were more likely to have higher attitudes scores. A majority of respondents (20,779.9%) were willing to be vaccinated and willing to recommend the NiV vaccine to their patients (21,682.8%). Future strategies include education of HCP to bridge the knowledge gaps and enhance preparedness through disease-specific training for NiV infection.
AB - Nipah virus (NiV) disease (NVD) remains a re-emerging public health threat in India. We assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception of NVD and future vaccine intent among a convenience sample of health care providers (HCP). The primary outcome measures were the knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception scores. Of 261 participants surveyed, 203 (77.8%) had heard of NiV and associated symptoms. The majority (248, 95%) identified the fruit bat as a primary NiV reservoir and 205 (79.8%) were aware of human-to-human transmission via droplets. Only 101 (38.7%) participants were aware that drinking date palm sap is a risk factor for transmission. Most HCP either agreed (117 (44.8%)) or strongly agreed (131 (50.2%)) that NiV is a serious illness. Less than half (121 (46.4%)) were aware of any institutional protocol for NiV; 235 (90.7%) of HCP stated that they need more information about prevention and treatment options. Knowledge scores were significantly higher among physicians compared to nurses whereas nurses and academic providers were more likely to have higher attitudes scores. A majority of respondents (20,779.9%) were willing to be vaccinated and willing to recommend the NiV vaccine to their patients (21,682.8%). Future strategies include education of HCP to bridge the knowledge gaps and enhance preparedness through disease-specific training for NiV infection.
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U2 - 10.3390/tropicalmed7040056
DO - 10.3390/tropicalmed7040056
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85129088925
VL - 7
JO - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
JF - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
SN - 2414-6366
IS - 4
M1 - 56
ER -
