scholarly journals Perceived Myths and Misconceptions about the Novel COVID-19 Outbreak

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-117
Author(s):  
Michael Abiola Okunlola ◽  
Emmanuel Lamptey ◽  
Ephraim Kumi Senkyire ◽  
Serwaa Dorcas ◽  
Benita Aki Dooshima

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) which was first reported in Wuhan, China has now spread globally becoming a matter of international concern. The World Health Organization officially changed their classification of the situation from a Public Health Emergency of International Concern to a Pandemic on March 11, 2020. As the corona virus continues to spread rapidly so do the headline news and a host of misconceptions surrounding the outbreak. This paper investigated and highlighted some of the most common misconceptions surrounding the outbreak of the covid-19. Using a cross-sectional survey method, the study collected and analysed data on these misconceptions and examined factors that influence the levels of these misconceptions. The study identified four top misconceptions respondents believe or agree with. These are; the novel corona virus is deadly (83.3%), Hand sanitizers do kill the virus (67.5%), face mask offer protection against the virus (55.8%) and Drying the hands with hand dryer helps to prevent the virus (44.2%). However, respondents were able to disagree, identify correctly and debunked certain statements of misconception. These include coronavirus affect only the elderly (95%), the virus can spread by mosquito bites (87.5%), antibiotics are effective for treatment (60%) and homemade remedies can cure the corona virus (54. 2%). Factors such as employment status and the relatedness of respondent’s occupation to Human Health were found to influence some of these misconceptions. Exploring these misconceptions keep the general public fully educated and informed about the facts of the outbreak as well as avoiding making up these misconceptions to protect themselves.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdiyeh Sarraf-Razavi ◽  
Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabaei ◽  
Mahboubeh Eslamzadeh ◽  
Marjan Moradi ◽  
Zhaleh Feyzi ◽  
...  

The infection caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) started from China and spread out to the whole world, and became a pandemic as the world health organization declared. COVID-19 has caused many challenges in all aspects of life, including mental health for the entire human beings. The current study has reviewed some important strategies based on individual care and social support. Maintaining healthy lifestyle and doing regular life activities such as enough sleeping, doing art, listening to music, doing yoga, and meditation could be practical for individual care. Some social support strategies may include talking to trusty people or counselors to share emotions, keeping in touch with family, friends, and colleagues, supporting people via calls and texts warmly, and taking care of the elderly, children, and especially medical workers. [GMJ.2021;10:e2008]


Author(s):  
Darlene Mara dos Santos Tavares ◽  
Nayara Gomes Nunes Oliveira ◽  
Gianna Fiori Marchiori ◽  
Mariana Silva Freitas Guimarães ◽  
Lenniara Pereira Mendes Santana

Objective: to describe the occurrence of COVID-19 and the health services used by elderly individuals living by themselves; identify the knowledge held by elderly individuals regarding the transmission, signs and symptoms of COVID-19, as well as factors associated with poor knowledge of preventive measures according to sociodemographic and clinical variables. Method: cross-sectional survey conducted by telephone or mobile with 123 elderly individuals living by themselves in the Health Macro-Region of Triângulo Sul in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Descriptive analysis was performed along with bivariate and multiple linear regression (p<0.05). Results: most elderly individuals did not present COVID-19 signs and symptoms (97.5%), were aware of how it is transmitted (86.6%), and of its signs and symptoms (90.8%). The elderly individuals were familiar with four preventive measures on average. After social distancing began, 85.7% of them left home and implemented three preventive measures on average, the most frequent of which was the use of face masks (99.0%). Being a man (p=0.001), 80 years old or older (p=0.045), and having fewer years of schooling (p=0.010) were associated with having less knowledge regarding the COVID-19 preventive measures. Conclusion: the elderly individuals were knowledgeable on COVID-19, but did not implement all the preventive measures. Male elderly individuals living by themselves with a low educational level are more vulnerable to COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-42
Author(s):  
Tuba Tanveer ◽  

Viral pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, in 2019 was observed and a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of this outbreak. COVID-19 was the official term given by the World Health Organization and announced this on February 11, 2020 publicly. Corona virus spreads through person to person contact. The novel corona virus has taken a few months to sweep the globe, there are certain questions that are impossible to fathom as the disease rages. As the vaccine for Covid-19 is not yet discovered, the virus is being controlled from spreading worldwide through numerous strategies. Therefore, noticing the virulence of this virus several preventive measures have been taken at a global level to protect the human race. One of the effective measures in controlling the spread of respiratory disease epidemics is maintaining social distance and, therefore, can be used as a way to reduce its spread. Improving the immune power of a person is another crucial measure adopted to obviate its spread. AYUSH system of medicine is performing a central role in the contribution of meliorating the immune system of a person. Variety of herbal combinations have proven to perform the same function. The very first and easy way to boost the immunity and kill the virus, is to drink warm water throughout the day. It is further also advised to take steam once a day. 30 minutes of daily practice of Yogasana, Pranayama and meditation contributes in boosting immunity. Also using Dhaniya, Haldi, Jeera and Lahsun in cooking helps. It is also advised to use Half teaspoon Haldi with 150 ml of Hot milk, once or twice a day. Consuming Chyavanprash 10 mg in the morning is equally helpful.


Author(s):  
Daniel Bekele ◽  
Tadesse Tolossa ◽  
Reta Tsegaye ◽  
Wondesen Teshome

AbstractBackgroundThe Novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is now the international concerns and a pandemic, since the World Health Organization declared as the outbreaks. The objective of this study to assess the prevention knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 among the residents of Ethiopia.MethodsAn online cross-sectional study was conducted among the sample of Ethiopian residents via social platforms of the author’s network with the popular media such as Facebook, in Ethiopia from the April 15-22, 2020 and successfully recruited 341 responses. The snowball sampling was employed to recruit the participants. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the level of knowledge and practices.ResultsThe majority of the respondents (80.35%) were male. The overall prevention knowledge of the participants towards the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was high. About 91.2% of the participant was heard about the novel coronavirus disease and Social Medias’ were the main source of the information. About 90% of the participants had a good prevention knowledge of maintaining social distance and frequent hand washing. The practices of the participants towards the COVID-19 prevention were very low. Out of 341 participants, only 61% and 84% of the participants were practicing social distance and frequent hand washing, respectively.ConclusionsMajority of the participants had knew the ways of protecting themselves from the novel coronavirus. But, there was deficiencies of changing these prevention knowledge to practice. This indicates that there was gap between knowledge and implementation of prevention strategies in the community. The concerned body should focus on providing education for the community regarding the implementation of the prevention knowledge to practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhurya Kadavakollu ◽  
Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Reddy Karri ◽  
Kuppusamy Gowthamarajan ◽  
Arun Radhakrishnan ◽  
Dhanabal Palanisamy ◽  
...  

In the mid-end of December 2019, several cases of pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause and etiology were identified in Wuhan City of Hubei province in China, a city with a population of over 11 million.Till date(April 2020) around 1,051,635 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) and 56,985 confirmed deaths have been reported according to COVID-19 Situation Report – 75 by WHO. On 7th January 2020, the causative agent was identified and named consequently as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) from throat swab samples. Later, on 12th January 2020, this coronavirus was named as 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by World Health Organization (WHO) and in 11th February 2020,it has been declared the epidemic disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 as Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19) as it is spreading rapidly from its origin in Wuhan City to the rest of the world. In this context, the current review provides a landscape of the novel Corona Virus including its origin, transmission, epidemiology, drugs and vaccines in clinical trials for better understanding to the reads and peoples the status and future perspectives of this pandemic disease


BDJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Mohsen Aly ◽  
Marwa Aly Elchaghaby

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the fear of infection among Egyptian dentists practicing during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to explore the dentist’s knowledge about guidelines to fight the virus and to assess various modifications in dental practice. Methods An online survey was submitted to dental professionals. Data were collected through a validated questionnaire consisting of 23 closed-ended questions. The gathered data were statistically analyzed. Results An overall 216 dentists completed the survey. A total of 200 (92.6%) dental professionals were afraid of becoming infected with COVID-19 while 196 (90.7%) became anxious to treat patients showing suspicious symptoms. The majority of the participants were aware of the mode of transmission of COVID-19 and a lot of them were updated with the current Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for cross-infection control. Conclusions COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on dental professionals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-234
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Chrysanthakopoulos ◽  

A severe pandemic of CoronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to World Health Organization (WHO), appeared in China in December 2019, and spread rapidly. The majority of the patients had mild symptoms and good prognosis after recovery; however some patients developed severe inflammatory reaction and passed away from multiple organ complications. The novel coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a beta-coronavirus and is similar with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). SARS-CoV-2 and -1 have the same host receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans remains unclear. The immune response is essential to control and reduce SARS-CoV-1 and -2 infections, however, irregular and exaggerated immune responses may lead to the immunopathology of the disease and the lung lesions. This article presents the immunological features of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its potential pathogenesis based on the recent observations of the International literature.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K SATHYAMURTHI

World is completely shut for more than a month due to the pandemic health situation of COVID19. World Health Organisation (WHO) declared February 2020 Corona Virus is causing pandemic health condition in the globe. SARS-CoV2 initiating from China, novel Corona moved towards east and then crossed to west showing its tyrannical face in each country. Almost eighty percent of the nation in this globe had been deadly affected and locked down was declared almost ninety percent of the nations by the novel corona. Human beings are striving hard to overcome the strange corona virus. The curative medicines have not produced till now the only way is to preventive measures. India has been locked down for more than three month due to the corona virus. The study aims in understanding the extent of awareness on SARS-CoV-2 among Indian residents through a cross sectional survey. The study instruments is self developed KAP scale consists of 12 statements related to the Corona virus clinical and preventive characteristics and the practice pattern of COVID19. The study covers about 9121 samples residing in India. The study shows that about sixty percent of the participants are highly aware about SARS-CoV-2. The knowledge, attitude and awareness about the spread of the corona virus have less impact on practicing preventive measures against SARS-CoV-2


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1083-1088

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a contagious disease triggered by the novel coronavirus. A novel coronavirus was observed as the causative agent and was subsequently termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). In December 2019, a disruption of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and spread across China and beyond. In India, the first case of CORONA virus was reported in Kerala state on 30 January 2020. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases infection can give rise to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and even death. The period within which the symptoms would appear is 1-14 days i.e. the incubation period of COVID-19. The present review highlights the types, etiology, transmission stages, manifestations, prevention, therapeutic options, learning points from outbreak, and initiative taken by Government of India (GOI) to control the spread of literary deathly disease.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0234585
Author(s):  
Daniel Bekele ◽  
Tadesse Tolossa ◽  
Reta Tsegaye ◽  
Wondesen Teshome

Background The disease from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been considered as an international concern and a pandemic starting from the declaration of the World Health Organization (WHO) as an outbreak disease. Objective The objective of this study is to assess the prevention of knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic among the residents of Ethiopia. Methods An online cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of Ethiopian residents via social platforms of the author’s network with popular social media such as Facebook, Telegram, and email. The snowball sampling was employed to recruit participants. In doing so, we collected the responses of 341 participants successfully from April 15 to 22, 2020. The collected data were analyzed by STATA version 14 software and descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the knowledge and practices of the community towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The majority of respondents 80.5% were male. About 91.2% of the participants heard about the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, out of 341 participants 90.0%, 93.8% of them knew that the COVID-19 pandemic was prevented by maintaining social distance and frequent handwashing, respectively. This shows that the prevention knowledge of the participants towards the COVID-19 by maintaining social distance and frequent handwashing was high. However, out of 341 participants only 61%,84% of them practiced social distance and frequent handwashing toward COVID-19, respectively. Conclusions The majority of the participants knew the ways to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but there was a great problem of changing this prevention knowledge to practices. This shows that there is an action gap between having prevention knowledge of the COVID-19 and implementing it into practices to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 among communities. Therefore, the concerned body should be focused on providing awareness and education for the community regarding the implementation of prevention knowledge to practices.


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