title: Knowledge regarding Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever among private dental practitioners in Tricity, India: A cross-sectional questionnaire study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ebola viral fever, a highly contagious haemorrhagic disease has today become a major public health concern in the developing countries worldwide.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge among dental practitioners regarding Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever (Ebola HF) in Tricity, (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 500 private dental practitioners were randomly approached to participate in this cross-sectional survey. A self-structured, closed ended questionnaire was administered to each participant to record demographic and professional characteristics followed by their knowledge regarding Ebola HF. Knowledge section included questions related to communicability; symptomatology and diagnostics; at-risk individuals; prevention and treatment; and, virus characteristics of Ebola HF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results were expressed in percentages. Multivariable linear regression analysis was carried out to assess the association of participants's demographic and professional characteristics with the knowledge scores. Statistically significant difference was seen when mean knowledge scores were compared based on the locality and qualification of the participants (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental practitioners from urban areas with higher qualification had better knowledge yet there were notable deficiencies regarding the virus characteristics, diagnostics, elimination and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Panchkula, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Nidhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Panchkula, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Nishant
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Panchkula, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Preety
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Panchkula, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Jan Nayak Ch. Devi Lal Dentistry Dental College, Sirsa, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Setia
keywords: Ebola HF; Ebola virus disease; infectious disease; knowledge; prevention
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