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Knowledge-attitude-practice toward swine flu
American Journal of Infection Control 40 (2012) 681-3
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
American Journal of Infection Control
American Journal of Infection Control
journal homepage: www.ajicjournal.org
Letters to the Editor
Knowledge-attitude-practice toward swine flu To the Editor: Dear editor, the recent publication on “Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu” is very interesting.1 In this report from Pakistan, the unsatisfied observation on the present situation of the focused medical students can be seen. A very similar observation is reported from Pakistan by Khowaja et al.2 Of interest, the problem also exists in other countries such as Singapore.3 Hussain et al suggested that “Universities should introduce and encourage infection control guidelines into routine curriculum.”1 Indeed, this suggestion should be the basic field that any medical curriculum has to cover. However, with the present risk, there should also be additional protocols to protect the medical students who are the youngest generation in medical team with the lowest experience and knowledge.4 References 1. Hussain ZA, Hussain SA, Hussain FA. Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu, in Pakistan: A brief report. Am J Infect Control 2012;40:e11-3. 2. Khowaja ZA, Soomro MI, Pirzada AK, Yoosuf MA, Kumar V. Awareness of the Pandemic H1N1 Influenza global outbreak 2009 among medical students in Karachi, Pakistan. J Infect Dev Ctries 2011;5:151-5. 3. Hsu LY, Jin J, Ang BS, Kurup A, Tambyah PA. Hand hygiene and infection control survey pre- and peri-H1N1-2009 pandemic: knowledge and perceptions of final year medical students in Singapore. Singapore Med J 2011;52:486-90. 4. Wiwanitkit V. Pre-clinical year medical students: at-risk of contracting swine flu. Hong Kong Med J 2010;16:158-9. DOI of original article:10.1016/j.ajic.2011.12.004. Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Buey Joob, M.D.* Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center Bangkok, Thailand Viroj Wiwanitkit, M.D. Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae Bangkok, Thailand Visiting Professor, Hainan Medical University Haikou, China * Address correspondence to Buey Joob, M.D., Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Joob) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2012.03.019
Reply to letter to the editor on “Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu, in Pakistan: A brief report” To the Editor: In his letter, Joob points out that our study needs to indicate specific measures to prevent the spread among the preclinical year students. Our study was performed with the intent to show the lack of infection control measures at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan with the hope of fostering changes in areas lacking in site specific zones. We focused on all years of students without taking into consideration their level of daily exposure to infections. True, younger year students are probably less exposed to infections compared with students performing clinical rotations. However, we believe that universities should start with adding basic guidelines for infection control into the curriculum from the preclinical years, creating a more formalized approach to the principles of management and skills toward more reliable patient care practices. Students will be able to expand their scope and develop abilities to improve patient safety through eliminating health care-associated infections. Our goal is to not only prevent the transmission of infection among health professionals. Rather, our ultimate aim is to provide a safer, more aware community. If our health professionals are able to understand the importance of following guidelines, we believe society will reap the benefits of a safer world. An improvement, no matter how small, impacts society at a much greater level. Universities should incorporate standard infection control issues and practices into their proposed curriculum. We believe that, with proper communication, the policies will not fall on deaf ears. We are open to any comments or suggestions that can help prevent the spread of easily preventable diseases through adopting simple measures. DOI of original article:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.03.019. Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Zara A. Hussain* Sarah A. Hussain Faisal A. Hussain, MBBS Isra University and Hospital Hyderabad-Sindh, Pakistan
0196-6553/$36.00 - Copyright Ó 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
American Journal of Infection Control
American Journal of Infection Control
journal homepage: www.ajicjournal.org
Letters to the Editor
Knowledge-attitude-practice toward swine flu To the Editor: Dear editor, the recent publication on “Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu” is very interesting.1 In this report from Pakistan, the unsatisfied observation on the present situation of the focused medical students can be seen. A very similar observation is reported from Pakistan by Khowaja et al.2 Of interest, the problem also exists in other countries such as Singapore.3 Hussain et al suggested that “Universities should introduce and encourage infection control guidelines into routine curriculum.”1 Indeed, this suggestion should be the basic field that any medical curriculum has to cover. However, with the present risk, there should also be additional protocols to protect the medical students who are the youngest generation in medical team with the lowest experience and knowledge.4 References 1. Hussain ZA, Hussain SA, Hussain FA. Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu, in Pakistan: A brief report. Am J Infect Control 2012;40:e11-3. 2. Khowaja ZA, Soomro MI, Pirzada AK, Yoosuf MA, Kumar V. Awareness of the Pandemic H1N1 Influenza global outbreak 2009 among medical students in Karachi, Pakistan. J Infect Dev Ctries 2011;5:151-5. 3. Hsu LY, Jin J, Ang BS, Kurup A, Tambyah PA. Hand hygiene and infection control survey pre- and peri-H1N1-2009 pandemic: knowledge and perceptions of final year medical students in Singapore. Singapore Med J 2011;52:486-90. 4. Wiwanitkit V. Pre-clinical year medical students: at-risk of contracting swine flu. Hong Kong Med J 2010;16:158-9. DOI of original article:10.1016/j.ajic.2011.12.004. Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Buey Joob, M.D.* Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center Bangkok, Thailand Viroj Wiwanitkit, M.D. Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae Bangkok, Thailand Visiting Professor, Hainan Medical University Haikou, China * Address correspondence to Buey Joob, M.D., Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Joob) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2012.03.019
Reply to letter to the editor on “Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions toward the H1N1 influenza, swine flu, in Pakistan: A brief report” To the Editor: In his letter, Joob points out that our study needs to indicate specific measures to prevent the spread among the preclinical year students. Our study was performed with the intent to show the lack of infection control measures at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan with the hope of fostering changes in areas lacking in site specific zones. We focused on all years of students without taking into consideration their level of daily exposure to infections. True, younger year students are probably less exposed to infections compared with students performing clinical rotations. However, we believe that universities should start with adding basic guidelines for infection control into the curriculum from the preclinical years, creating a more formalized approach to the principles of management and skills toward more reliable patient care practices. Students will be able to expand their scope and develop abilities to improve patient safety through eliminating health care-associated infections. Our goal is to not only prevent the transmission of infection among health professionals. Rather, our ultimate aim is to provide a safer, more aware community. If our health professionals are able to understand the importance of following guidelines, we believe society will reap the benefits of a safer world. An improvement, no matter how small, impacts society at a much greater level. Universities should incorporate standard infection control issues and practices into their proposed curriculum. We believe that, with proper communication, the policies will not fall on deaf ears. We are open to any comments or suggestions that can help prevent the spread of easily preventable diseases through adopting simple measures. DOI of original article:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.03.019. Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Zara A. Hussain* Sarah A. Hussain Faisal A. Hussain, MBBS Isra University and Hospital Hyderabad-Sindh, Pakistan
0196-6553/$36.00 - Copyright Ó 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.