CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background

Coronavirus(COVID-19) is an infectious disease cause by SARS-COV-2 virus. Majority of people who get affected by this virus experience mild to moderate illness and recover without a particular treatment. However, some people will require medical attention, especially those with underlying disease like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease and others are more likely to develop serious illness. Also, anyone can become infected by the virus and become seriously sick or die at any age(WHO,2021). Also, Corona virus can be transmitted from person to person through the inhalation of aerosols from an infected individual. Again more  information about the distribution, transmission, pathophysiology, treatment and prevention are needed (Ngwewondo et al,2021). In addition, WHO recommends the prevention of transportation by using facemasks, regular hand washing with soap and water and social distancing.

On March 11, 2020, World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic (WHO,2020). Coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China in 2019 and later spread globally to become the fifth documented pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic (Sarah,2021). Furthermore, some signs and symptoms of coronavirus include fever and respiratory symptoms like cough, sore throats, pharyngeal erythema, nasal congestion, tachypnea (rapid breathing), dyspnea ( difficulty in breathing) and tachycardia ( rapid heart rate). Often, gastro- intestineal symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and dairrhea are the first manifestations. Neurological manifestations such as seizures, dystonia and altered mental status were rare. Adults instead showed tachypnea, cough, grunting, nasal flaring, vomiting, poor feeding, diarrhea and lethargy(CDC,2021). The mode of transmission can be through droplets of different sizes (WHO,2020). It can be prevented through putting on of facemasks, regular hand washing, vaccinations, avoiding over crowded and poor ventilated areas, covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing ( CDC,2021). Similarly, some of the medications used to treat patients with coronavirus are ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, remdesvir, dexamethasone ( Desimone,2021).

    Globally, on the 31 December 2020, COVID-19 had infected over 82 million people and killed more than 1.8 million people world wide. It was estimated that about 3 million deaths were recorded directly or indirectly as a result of COVID-19 ( WHO,2021). And as of the 29 of November there have been 260,867,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and with an estimate of 5,200,267 deaths. As of November 2022, a total of 7,772,799,316 people have been vaccinated(WHO,2021)

     Continentally, the first case of the virus was discovered in Africa by the minister of health and population Dr Hala Zayed  in Egypt on the 14 of February 2020( Nkengason,2020). Again, as of April 19 2020, Egypt had reported 3144 cases of COVID-19 and 239 deaths( Mohammed,2020). As of November 22,2021 the number of confirmed cases in Africa increased to 8.664,388 which represented around 3.35% of the infection world wide. South Africa was the most severe affected country with more than 2. 93 million infected(Saifaddan,2021). In addition, the outbreak of the virus in Jordan can not be denied as the country also recorded it’s first case of the pandemic on the 2 of March 2020( Yussuf,2021).

     In Cameroon, the first case was confirmed on the 6th of March 2020 in French national who arrived Yaoundé. To control and avoid the rapid spread of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the country, several measures were adopted by the government. These measures include the limitation of the number of passengers of public transportation; the closing of all schools and care for infected people or suspected cases; closure of borders and suspension of flights; suspension of issuance of entry visas to Cameroon, gatherings of more than 50 people prohibited; bars, restaurants, and public places closed from 6 pm; consumer flow regulations set up in markets and supermarkets; urban and inter-urban travel only undertaken in cases of extreme necessity; overloading in public transport vehicles prohibited; implementation of virtual meetings; avoiding close contact such as shaking hands or hugging and covering the mouth when sneezing. The number of those infected is still on the rise and after the government uplifted some of the COVID-19 restrictive measures on bars, taxis restaurants(Nkengason,2020). Several other cases were con-firmed later amounting to 8681 cases, 4836 recovered and 212 deaths. In view of this, the government brought in vaccines to be taken inorder to prevent COVID-19. These vaccine causes the immune system to create antibodies to fight COVID-19. Some of these vaccines include: Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, Vector vaccine, Viral vector vaccines ,Protein subunit vaccine.

1.2 Problem Statemen

Since the onset of corona virus in November 2019, COVID-19 has been a mojor public health concern world wide affecting many lives and other human activities. Several studies have been carried out to assess people’s knowledge on the disease for example, the correct proportion of the population who were knowledgeable on COVID-19 moved from 9.1% to 41.5% since it’s onset in Buea(Fortermu et al, 2020). However, with things gradually going back to normal around the world following the pandemic period, there is the need for the population to be constantly reminded on the necessity to maintain COVID-19 guide lines which includes regular hand washing, social distancing and wearing of facemasks to prevent another outbreak of the disease. This research is therefore aimed at assessing the knowledge, practice and preventive strategies towards COVID-19 amongst adults in the Molyko Community.

1.3 Research questions

1.3.1 General Research Questions

Assessing the knowledge, practice and preventive strategies of COVID-19 amongst adults in the Molyko Community

1.3.2 Specific Research Question

• What level of knowledge do adults age 18-30years in Molyko community have about coronavirus.
• What attitude do adult’s age 18-30years in Molyko community have towards coronavirus?
• What are the preventive measures employed by adults age 18-30 towards coronavirus.

1.4  Objectives

 1.4.1 General Objective

• To assess the knowledge, practice and preventive strategies of covid-19 amongst adults in the molyko community buea.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

• To assess the level of knowledge of COVID-19 amongst adults of ages18-30 in Molyko community.
• To evaluate their practice towards the prevention of coronavirus.
• To determine the preventive measures employed by adults in Molyko community against COVID-19.