title: Assessment of the awareness level of dental students toward Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infection prevention and control measures are critical to prevent the possible spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in healthcare facilities. Therefore, healthcare workers should be aware of all procedures concerning prevention of and protection from MERS-CoV.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to improve the knowledge of the dental students and evaluate their awareness about MERS-CoV.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was made according to MOH information and 200 dental students (Al-Farabi Colleges, Jeddah) were interviewed to evaluate their knowledge about MERS-CoV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of the dental students (54%) interviewed had good knowledge about the etiology, symptoms, and treatment of MERS-CoV. Measurements for infection control and protection were also known (79%). The sources of information for the students were: college (27%), MOH (25%), media (24%), and social community (23%), while 17% of the students interviewed had no idea about it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental students had good knowledge about MERS-CoV. However, more information still must be provided by MOH and college for the medical staff.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Al-Farabi Colleges, Aleppo University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohamed Yasser
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Al-Farabi Colleges, Aleppo University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohamad Sadek
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Alalwani
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Al-Farabi Colleges for Dentistry and Nursing, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ; Department of Nursing, Cairo University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Manal Fouad
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Amer
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Al-Farabi Colleges, Aleppo University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Bassel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tarakji
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Sciences, Al-Farabi Colleges, Aleppo University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ghassan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aws
keywords: Aerosol infection; Middle east respiratory syndrome; coronavirus; respiratory infection-health-care workers; virus infection