Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception of Community Pharmacists to Zika Virus Infection in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Background: Zika fever is a mosquito-borne disease with global health concern. It has been underreported or misdiagnosed due to its unspecific clinical manifestations, including mild-influenza like and subclinical symptoms. However, its associated serious complications which include fetal microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome remained a challenge to the public health sectors. This research aimed to evaluate the knowledge, awareness, and perception toward Zika virus infection among community pharmacists in the Klang Valley of Malaysia and to determine the association between the knowledge of Zika virus infectious disease and years of community practice experience among community pharmacists in this region.

Methods: This survey research was conducted from August to December 2018 through a pre-tested, self-administration, and cross-sectional random convenient sampling at various districts in the Klang Valley. A total of 275 registered community pharmacists were involved in this study by completing a pilot-tested questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to analyze the data.

Results: The knowledge toward Zika virus infection of respondents was classified into "poor" (5.1%), "basic" (70.9%), and "broad" (24.0%). Most of the participants (n = 195, 70.9%) presented with basic knowledge toward Zika virus infection. A total of 268 (97.5%) participants presented with high awareness toward Zika virus infection. The mean score of respondents' knowledge and awareness was 15.88 ± 3.61 (maximum score = 28) and 13.96 ± 1.60 (maximum score = 16), respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the years of practice of community pharmacists and the level of knowledge toward Zika virus infection.

Conclusions: In conclusion, our respondents demonstrated a basic level of knowledge and high awareness toward Zika virus infection. Also, we highlighted some possible pitfalls in the knowledge of Zika virus infection, including the virus transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and complications of the disease.