Ebola Virus Disease: Awareness Among Dental Students in Hungary

Objectives: The Ebola (EVD) epidemic has claimed thousands of lives in Africa and there has been a mounting pressure on the healthcare systems around the globe to prepare for the arrival of patients infected with this virus. It is spread mainly in bodily fluids and can lead to severe bleeding, shock and death in infected patients. Junior clinicians and dentists are at the forefront of medical teams, often coming into contact with patients first, during clerking and admissions. This paper assesses the level of knowledge of EVD among dental students at the Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey of 257 dental students was carried out across five different courses (Hungarian, English- and German speaking 5-th and 4-th year). Each of the students were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire comprising of 11 questions, to assess their knowledge about the signs and symptoms, investigations, management, and sequelae of the virus and the outbreak.
Results: Our study highlighted that there is an overall lack of knowledge about critical aspects of EVD among dental students, especially amongst English speaking fifth year students. We found that the participating students scored less than 60% for 8 of the 11 questions, including those assessing their recognition and subsequent management of EVD.
Conclusions: CONCLUSION: These results are concerning and the medical universities and dental schools need to act fast to prepare the Hungary’s dental (and medical) students and junior doctors for an inevitable influx of infected patients