Centre for Biology Teacher Education, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Schubertstr. 51a, 8010 Graz, Austria.
Int J Biol Sci. 2022 Jan 31;18(4):1627-1650. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.69224. eCollection 2022.
Viruses have become a prominent issue in public health, politics and economics due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet they have still met little attention in educational research, although misconceptions concerning viruses may contribute to antibiotics misuse, disbelief in existence of viruses and distrust in vaccination. We investigated knowledge and attitudes in Austria concerning Covid-19, viruses in general and vaccination. We conducted two cross-sectional online surveys. Study A was performed Austrian-wide (N = 1027), study B specifically targeted Austrian students from middle and high schools (N = 1728). Several participants did not believe in the existence of SARS-CoV-2. General vaccination damage was highly overrated. Many defined viruses as unicellular organisms or bacteria, and 6-10 % believed that they can be killed by antibiotics. Very many participants were unable to identify, whether a specific disease was caused by a virus or another pathogen. Knowledge was significantly correlated with level of education/grade and interest in virology. Additionally, willingness to become vaccinated was significantly correlated with knowledge. Many participants felt insufficiently informed about viruses at school. We strongly recommend that virus-related school education must highly improve to enable the population to correctly assess health-related information, counter fake news and come to scientifically informed decisions.
由于新冠疫情，病毒已成为公共卫生、政治和经济领域的突出问题。然而，教育研究中对病毒的关注仍然很少，尽管关于病毒的误解可能导致抗生素滥用、不相信病毒的存在以及对疫苗接种的不信任。我们调查了奥地利人对新冠病毒、一般病毒和疫苗接种的知识和态度。我们进行了两项横断面在线调查。研究 A 在奥地利范围内进行（N = 1027），研究 B 专门针对奥地利中学生和高中生（N = 1728）。一些参与者不相信 SARS-CoV-2 的存在。普遍认为疫苗接种会造成损害。许多人将病毒定义为单细胞生物或细菌，并且 6-10%的人认为抗生素可以杀死病毒。许多参与者无法确定某种疾病是由病毒还是其他病原体引起的。知识与教育程度/年级和对病毒学的兴趣显著相关。此外，接种意愿与知识水平显著相关。许多参与者认为在学校对病毒的了解不足。我们强烈建议必须大力改善与病毒相关的学校教育，以使民众能够正确评估与健康相关的信息，抵制假新闻，并做出科学知情的决策。
