Tomas Nestor, Kampanza Festus
Department of General Nursing Science, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia (UNAM), Rundu, Namibia.
J Public Health Afr. 2022 Jul 26;13(2):1923. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2022.1923.
Although varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is preventable and curable, the disease remains a public health problem in Namibia. Access to vaccination in the country remains a challenge for many citizens including students. No previous study has been conducted to assess awareness on the prevention and control of VZV in Namibia. The overall purpose of the study was to investigate the awareness of hostel students on prevention and control measures for VZV in Namibia. The objective of the study was to assess and describe the awareness of hostel students on the prevention and control measures for VZV in Namibia. A quantitative descriptive study using an online questionnaire was used. Simple random sampling was used to select 165 respondents. Descriptive statistics and a non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test were performed to test the mean differences between variables and the significance of the data. A great proportion of the respondents, 70.7% (n=118), were aware that VZV is caused by a virus (0.71±0.45) while 76% (n=127) (0.76±0.42) were aware that VZV can be vaccinated against. The study found a strong association between aetiology (p=0.03), available information (p=0.00), mode of transmission (p=0.02), and knowledge on contagious diseases (p=0.03). The results were inconclusive as to whether the level of awareness is high or low, owing to the differences in scores for each variable. The study recommends that a mobile clinic be established on campus to offer health education information.
尽管水痘带状疱疹病毒(VZV)是可预防和可治愈的,但该疾病在纳米比亚仍然是一个公共卫生问题。在该国,包括学生在内的许多公民在获得疫苗接种方面仍然面临挑战。此前尚未进行过评估纳米比亚对VZV预防和控制的认知情况的研究。该研究的总体目的是调查纳米比亚寄宿学生对VZV预防和控制措施的认知情况。该研究的目标是评估和描述纳米比亚寄宿学生对VZV预防和控制措施的认知情况。采用了一项使用在线问卷的定量描述性研究。使用简单随机抽样选择了165名受访者。进行了描述性统计和非参数Kruskal Wallis检验,以检验变量之间的均值差异和数据的显著性。很大一部分受访者,即70.7%(n = 118),知道VZV是由病毒引起的(0.71±0.45),而76%(n = 127)(0.76±0.42)知道VZV可以接种疫苗预防。该研究发现病因(p = 0.03)、可得信息(p = 0.00)、传播方式(p = 0.02)和对传染病的了解(p = 0.03)之间存在很强的关联。由于每个变量得分存在差异,关于认知水平是高还是低的结果尚无定论。该研究建议在校园内设立流动诊所,提供健康教育信息。