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354015

Managing source of information and its relationship with fear of new strains of COVID-19 virus among a sample of Egyptians

Article

Last updated: 25 Dec 2024

Subjects

-

Tags

Infection prevention and control

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a surge of misinformation, including about new variants like BA.2.86, raising concerns about its spread and the effectiveness of containment efforts. This "infodemic" has exacerbated the impact of the pandemic, leading to economic strain and psychological effects such as "coronophobia," with both traditional and social media playing significant roles in its propagation. Aim: to explore the level of fear of the new strains of COVID-19 among a sample of the Egyptian population and to identify the relationship between the level of fear and the technique of managing the information source. Methods: The current exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample from the general population using a pre-tested electronic questionnaire, which included the following sections: i) Sociodemographic characteristics, ii) fear of COVID-19 questions, and iii) Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (CRAAP) test to evaluate the source of information Results: About one third of the 390 participants were afraid of the new strains of COVID-19; thinking about that issue or watching news about it made them uncomfortable. The majority felt anxious or palpitated when they thought about getting one of the new strains of COVID-19. The mean score of fear of new strains of COVID-19was 15.9 ± 5.2. More than one third of them (32.1%) agreed that they always check the accuracy of the information by finding out if the information is supported by evidence or not. The fear of new strains of COVID-19 was significantly higher among females, married participants, and those suffering from chronic diseases. Conclusion: A significant proportion of the participants are not particularly afraid of new strains of viruses. About one third of them agreed that they always check the accuracy of the information by finding out if the information is supported by evidence or not.

DOI

10.21608/mid.2024.278621.1858

Keywords

Fear, New strains, COVID-19, CRAAP test

Authors

First Name

Marwa

Last Name

Zein

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt

Email

marwa.zein@kasralainy.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Samar

Last Name

Anwar

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt

Email

samar.e.anwar@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Youssef

Last Name

Elsendiony

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Intern at Faculty of Medicine Cairo University, Egypt

Email

youssefahmed@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Alaa

Last Name

Qandeel

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Intern at Faculty of Medicine Cairo University, Egypt

Email

alaamostafa@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Marwa

Last Name

Salem

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt

Email

mr80002000@kasralainy.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

5

Article Issue

3

Related Issue

49567

Issue Date

2024-08-01

Receive Date

2024-03-23

Publish Date

2024-08-01

Page Start

863

Page End

872

Print ISSN

2682-4132

Online ISSN

2682-4140

Link

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/article_354015.html

Detail API

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=354015

Order

1

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,157

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Microbes and Infectious Diseases

Publication Link

https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Managing source of information and its relationship with fear of new strains of COVID-19 virus among a sample of Egyptians

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Dec 2024