Survey on awareness of cytomegalovirus among kindergarten teachers in Yinan county

Objective To investigate the status of awareness on cytomegalovirus among kindergarten teachers in Yinan county, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of congenital cytomegalovirus infection among them. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted in October 2018 on the knowledge of cytomegalovirus among 312 staffs in 12 kindergartens within the county selected by stratified cluster sampling. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the influencing factors of the awareness. Results A total of 301 questionnaires were received, and the response rate was 96.47%. For the respondents, 45.85% heard of cytomegalovirus and the most important knowledge channels were the internet and notifications from medical workers. The awareness rate of "Frequent hand washing can reduce the transmission of cytomegalovirus" was the highest while the awareness rate of "Congenital cytomegalovirus infection can cause death in newborns" was the lowest. For the five key questions, including "Pregnant women may transmit cytomegalovirus to their fetus" , "Cytomegalovirus may transmit via shared tableware" and "Cytomegalovirus may transmit via sexual contact" , the overall awareness rate was 50.29% (347/690) . Logistic multivariate regression analysis revealed that awareness rate of females were higher than that of males (OR=2.64, 95%CI: 1.86-3.30). Conclusions The knowledge awareness of cytomegalovirus was low among kindergarten teachers, resulting in insufficient understanding of transmission and pathogenicity of the virus. It is suggested to improve the awareness level of the staffs through internet and health education, so as to prevent congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Key words: Cytomegalovirus; Congenital infection; Kindergarten teacher; Key information; Awareness rate