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Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Concern about the zoonotic Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is rising. Since, food handlers are at greater risk in contracting HEV, the present study aims to determine awareness, knowledge, prevention practices against HEV, and immunization attitudes. A cross sectional study was conducted among 400 food hand...

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Main Authors: Rajendiran, Sakshaleni, Wong, Li Ping, Veloo, Yuvaneswary, Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2024
Subjects:
R Medicine
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/45087/
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133
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spelling my.um.eprints.450872024-09-13T04:42:00Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/45087/ Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia Rajendiran, Sakshaleni Wong, Li Ping Veloo, Yuvaneswary Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed R Medicine Concern about the zoonotic Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is rising. Since, food handlers are at greater risk in contracting HEV, the present study aims to determine awareness, knowledge, prevention practices against HEV, and immunization attitudes. A cross sectional study was conducted among 400 food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia from December 2021 to March 2022. A structured questionnaire was employed for data collection and analysis with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 29. Approximately 4.5% of the respondents (18) reported having heard of HEV, while the median scores for the knowledge and practice domains were 0/10 and 1/5, respectively. A total of 316 (79%) respondents expressed willingness to obtain vaccination if made available. This study also found that those respondents who completed their tertiary education were significantly possessed better knowledge of the disease odd ratio (OR) = 8.95, and 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.98-16.10]. Respondents with HEV awareness reported considerably better practices (OR = 8.24, 95% CI 1.72-39.63). Food handlers with one to five years of experience in the industry expressed notable willingness to take vaccination (OR = 7.71, 95% CI 1.79-33.18). Addressing poor HEV awareness and knowledge and poor practices against the disease is crucial in enlightening the policy makers about awareness among food handlers and general population. Nonetheless, a good immunization attitude, significant acceptance toward vaccination even with the vaccine being unavailable in Malaysia, and limited awareness of HEV highlight a promising development. Taylor & Francis 2024-12 Article PeerReviewed Rajendiran, Sakshaleni and Wong, Li Ping and Veloo, Yuvaneswary and Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed (2024) Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 20 (1). p. 2318133. ISSN 2164-5515, DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133 <https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133>. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133 10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic R Medicine
spellingShingle R Medicine
Rajendiran, Sakshaleni
Wong, Li Ping
Veloo, Yuvaneswary
Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed
Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
description Concern about the zoonotic Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is rising. Since, food handlers are at greater risk in contracting HEV, the present study aims to determine awareness, knowledge, prevention practices against HEV, and immunization attitudes. A cross sectional study was conducted among 400 food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia from December 2021 to March 2022. A structured questionnaire was employed for data collection and analysis with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 29. Approximately 4.5% of the respondents (18) reported having heard of HEV, while the median scores for the knowledge and practice domains were 0/10 and 1/5, respectively. A total of 316 (79%) respondents expressed willingness to obtain vaccination if made available. This study also found that those respondents who completed their tertiary education were significantly possessed better knowledge of the disease odd ratio (OR) = 8.95, and 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.98-16.10]. Respondents with HEV awareness reported considerably better practices (OR = 8.24, 95% CI 1.72-39.63). Food handlers with one to five years of experience in the industry expressed notable willingness to take vaccination (OR = 7.71, 95% CI 1.79-33.18). Addressing poor HEV awareness and knowledge and poor practices against the disease is crucial in enlightening the policy makers about awareness among food handlers and general population. Nonetheless, a good immunization attitude, significant acceptance toward vaccination even with the vaccine being unavailable in Malaysia, and limited awareness of HEV highlight a promising development.
format Article
author Rajendiran, Sakshaleni
Wong, Li Ping
Veloo, Yuvaneswary
Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed
author_facet Rajendiran, Sakshaleni
Wong, Li Ping
Veloo, Yuvaneswary
Abu Thahir, Syahidiah Syed
author_sort Rajendiran, Sakshaleni
title Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
title_short Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
title_full Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
title_fullStr Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia
title_sort awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis e virus among food handlers in klang valley, malaysia
publisher Taylor & Francis
publishDate 2024
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/45087/
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2318133
_version_ 1811682084501061632
score 13.211869

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