ArticleJournal of infection and public health
Is the Saudi public aware of Middle East respiratory syndrome?
Article in Journal of infection and public health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pandemic-related health literacy: a systematic review of literature in COVID-19, SARS and MERS pandemics.Singapore medical journal · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and practice of facemask use in general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis of the Association between Gender and Protective Behaviors in Response to Respiratory Epidemics and Pandemics.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Assessment of hand hygiene awareness and practice levels amid the COVID-19 period: a comparative study of the public in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Evaluation of community knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19: the case of Hawassa city, Sidama, Ethiopia.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Perceptions, Knowledge, and Experiences of Using Face Masks among Egyptian Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Acceptance towards COVID-19 vaccine among Qassim populations: A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Article
- Public Opinion on European Health Policy, Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice among Physical Therapists toward COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Beliefs on social distancing and face mask practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study.F1000Research · 2022Article
- Unmasking emerging issues in solid waste management: Knowledge and self-reported practices on the discarded disposable masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.Environmental challenges (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Community Knowledge of and Attitudes towards COVID-19 Prevention Techniques in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Determinants of restaurant consumers' intention to practice COVID-19 preventive behavior: an application of the theory of planned behavior.Nutrition research and practice · 2021Article
- Role of repeating quarantine instructions and healthy practices on COVID-19 patients and contacted persons to raise their awareness and adherence to quarantine instructions.International journal of clinical practice · 2021Article
- Knowledge and attitude on prevention of COVID-19 among community health workers in Nepal-a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Levels of fear and uncertainty regarding the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among university students.Perspectives in psychiatric care · 2021Article
- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Virus-Pathophysiological Axis and the Current Treatment Strategies.AAPS PharmSciTech · 2021Review
- COVID-19: Knowledge of Mode of Spread and Preventive Practices among College Adolescents in Nigeria.Journal of tropical pediatrics · 2021Article
- Product of natural evolution (SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2); deadly diseases, from SARS to SARS-CoV-2.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To limit the spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health tried to raise public awareness using different public campaigns. We aimed to measure public awareness of MERS in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and June 2014 using a newly designed Arabic questionnaire that was distributed and completed online. We analyzed the response of 1149 respondents across Saudi Arabia. We found that 97% of the participants were aware of MERS. In addition, 72% realized that coughing and sneezing could spread the infection. Furthermore, 83% thought that some patients with MERS could be cured. Moreover, 62% knew that no vaccine can prevent the disease. However, only 36% realized that taking antibiotics will not stop the infection, and only 41% recognized that no medication has yet been manufactured to treat it. Regarding protection measures, 74% used hand sanitizers, 43% avoided crowded places, and 11% wore masks in public places. Moreover, only 47% knew that bats and camels are the primary source of the virus. As anticipated, this level of awareness varied between the different categories of the studied population. Female, married, older, and more educated participants were significantly more knowledgeable about the disease. Public awareness of MERS is generally sufficient. However, some false beliefs about treatment were fairly common. In addition, almost half of the population remains unaware that bats and camels are the most likely sources of the virus.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.