ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Basma A. Elawady1,2, Mona S. Mohamed3, Eman H. Elsebaie4,
Essraa A. Hegazy1 and Lamiaa A. Madkour1
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Kasralainy Street, Cairo, Egypt.
2Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Dental and Oral Medicine, Ahram Canadian University, 6th of October City, Giza, Egypt.
3Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Ahram Canadian University, 6th of October City, Giza, Cairo, Egypt.
4Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Kasralainy Street, Cairo, Egypt.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2021;15(4):2498-2506 | Article Number: 7374
https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.15.4.77 | © The Author(s). 2021
Received: 15/10/2021 | Accepted: 11/11/2021 | Published: 30/11/2021
Abstract

This study was carried out in the dental school of Ahram Canadian University in Egypt to investigate the knowledge and compliance of senior students and interns toward infection control practices. A self‑administered questionnaire was employed with questions pertinent to the participants’ knowledge of risks in the dental settings, the practice of hand hygiene, the use of protective equipment, and the management of sharp injuries, among others. Although the knowledge and practice of the 240 surveyed participants were good; they were not up to the coveted standards. Despite being an integral part of their curriculum, an alarming percentage (19.6%) of the participants denied receiving knowledge about infection control instructions. Meanwhile, only 72.5% were aware of being at risk in the dental settings, and 78.3% confirmed their practice of hand hygiene. On the other hand, 84.6% of the surveyed participants confirmed the availability of protective equipment and 94.2% of them expressed their willingness to apply infection control measures in the future. The defects in the knowledge and practice mandate corrective actions to promote and upgrade the students’ compliance. Meanwhile, other gaps can be rectified via developing state-of-the-art communicative strategies. Efforts are warranted to enhance the attitude and motivate the students to conform to the protective safety measures. With all the infection control procedures already established in dental schools, the challenge lies in improving the students’ compliance with these recommendations.

Keywords

Dental clinics, Hand hygiene, HBV, Infection control, PPE, Sharp injuries

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