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  • Beyond Knowledge and Awareness: Addressing Misconceptions in Ghana's Preparation towards an Outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease

    Author(s)
    Adongo, Philip Baba
    Tabong, Philip Teg-Nefaah
    Asampong, Emmanuel
    Ansong, Joana
    Robalo, Magda
    Adanu, Richard M
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Robalo, Magda
    Year published
    2016
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    BACKGROUND: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is not new to the world. However, the West African EVD epidemic which started in 2014 evolved into the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease. The three most-affected countries faced enormous challenges in stopping the transmission and providing care for all patients. Although Ghana had not recorded any confirmed Ebola case, social factors have been reported to hinder efforts to control the outbreak in the three most affected countries. This qualitative study was designed to explore community knowledge and attitudes about Ebola and its transmission. ...
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    BACKGROUND: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is not new to the world. However, the West African EVD epidemic which started in 2014 evolved into the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease. The three most-affected countries faced enormous challenges in stopping the transmission and providing care for all patients. Although Ghana had not recorded any confirmed Ebola case, social factors have been reported to hinder efforts to control the outbreak in the three most affected countries. This qualitative study was designed to explore community knowledge and attitudes about Ebola and its transmission. METHODS: This study was carried out in five of the ten regions in Ghana. Twenty-five focus group discussions (N = 235) and 40 in-depth interviews were conducted across the five regions with community members, stakeholders and opinion leaders. The interviews were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim. Framework analysis was adopted in the analysis of the data using Nvivo 10. RESULTS: The results showed a high level of awareness and knowledge about Ebola. The study further showed that knowledge on how to identify suspected cases of Ebola was also high among respondents. However, there was a firm belief that Ebola was a spiritual condition and could also be transmitted through air, mosquito bites and houseflies. These misconceptions resulted in perceptions of stigma and discrimination towards people who may get Ebola or work with Ebola patients. CONCLUSION: We conclude that although knowledge and awareness about Ebola is high among Ghanaians who participated in the study, there are still misconceptions about the disease. The study recommends that health education on Ebola disease should move beyond creating awareness to targeting the identified misconceptions to improve future containment efforts.
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    Journal Title
    PLOS ONE
    Volume
    11
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149627
    Subject
    Virology
    Epidemiology
    Public health
    Science & Technology
    Multidisciplinary Sciences
    Science & Technology - Other Topics
    Stigma
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/409516
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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