Background The COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant public health threat. Therefore, the purpose of this survey was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and precautionary measures related to COVID-19 among college students. Methods A convenient sample of 3263 volunteers responded to a self-administered electronic questionnaire during the period from October to December 2020. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) score level was calculated with a range of 0-34 points. Results The mean age of the participants was 21 (+/-1.2) years, 69% were female, and 60.3% were urban. The majority of respondents received information about COVID-19 symptoms (93.9%), how to protect yourself (92.5%), and how it is transmitted (86.8%). The most cited sources of information were social media (75.7%), and the most credible were government websites and international organizations. More than half (65%) expressed concern regarding contracting COVID-19, and 89.2% believed that COVID-19 is a dangerous infection due to the rapid spread of the virus. The mean total KAP score was 26.1 (+/-4.2), which differed significantly between gender groups and residential areas. Logistic regression analysis showed that volunteers with good knowledge were 1.3 and 1.0 times more willing to volunteer and maintain a physical distance than those with less knowledge. Female students were 40% less likely to volunteer than males, yet they were 1.8 times more cautious about practicing protective measures such as washing their hands with soap and water than male students. Classifying the COVID-19 pandemic as a serious infection, urban communities have twice been careful to wear masks outdoors and maintain a social distance of at least 2 meters from one another compared to rural inhabitants. Conclusion The current survey revealed that medical students have good knowledge regarding COVID-19, a positive attitude towards the use of protective measures, which were necessary to limit the spread of the disease. However, improvement is still required, and community education should occur as usual with a commitment to utilizing all the strategies that can support knowledge to improve and change attitudes as well as practices of the population.

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Background: This study aimed to assess perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among medical students. Methods: A consecutive convenient sample of 2100 university students representing the student’s union network were included using an electronic self-administered questionnaire. About 12 items were used to assess attitudes and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. Results: A total of 2100 volunteers responded to the survey. All ages ranged from 18 to 25 years, 69% were females, and 57.3% were from urban residences. According to their willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, 49.7% accepted, 38.5% hesitated, and 11.8% refused vaccination. Out of 60 scales measuring their attitudes, a median total score of 46.0 (42.0–49.0) differed significantly in relation to genders, residence, and vaccine decision-making groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that participants who consented that COVID-19 mass vaccination could prevent the spread of infection in the community and stop the pandemic have 1.9 higher odds of accepting vaccination ( p = 0.003). Additionally, the participants who believed that the vaccine had no severe infection or side effects were 3.1 and 2.8 higher folds for vaccine acceptance, respectively ( p = 0.001). Moreover, participants who thought it was not too early for clinical trials were 4.3 times more likely to take the vaccine ( p = 0.001). Individuals who agreed that information about vaccine side effects better to discuss openly with the authorities were 2.8 times more likely to accept vaccination than other hesitating/ refusing groups, p-value < 0.001. Conclusions: Understanding students’ perspectives of the COVID-19 vaccine and supporting their health engagement and awareness may help plan an adequate response.

Background: The relation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of an association between T2DM and HCV. Methods: A case control study was conducted at the outpatients' clinics of Kasr El-Aini Hospital (KAH), from October 2013 till March 2014. In this study, 389 HCV patients were selected as cases and 389 healthy controls were also included. Demographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Laboratory investigations including liver function tests (LFT), blood glucose level and radioimmunoblot assay (ELISA) were performed. Results: Out of 389 HCV cases, 219 (56.3%) were diabetic, whereas 145 (37.3%) were diabetic among the healthy controls. Occurrence of diabetes among cirrhotic patients was 1.7 times higher than non-cirrhotic. Logistic regression showed that residence (P < 0.001, OR = 2.7), occupation (P = 0.03, OR = 1.8), and smoking (P = 0.04, OR = 2) were the predictive factors for occurrence of T2DM in HCV patients. Conclusions: In this study, we found a positive association between HCV infection and T2DM. Residence, occupation and smoking were the predictive factors for the association of T2DM in HCV patients, whereas hypertension and BMI were only adjunctive factors.

BACKGROUND: Digital stories are short videos that use narrative structures to address health outcomes from a personal perspective. AIM: The main objective of this study was to train university students to design a video-based health education program for promoting peer-to-peer education and community awareness. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. The study was conducted as a project for medical students, enrolled in the implementation of the Egyptian Youth Initiative (EYI), executed in response to the Government of Egypt- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Country Program of Cooperation for 2016 - 2018. A four-day train-the-trainer workshop established for capacity building on DST and video communication. RESULTS: Between June 2017 and May 2018, 120 eligible students were enrolled, among whom median age was 21 years and 67 (55%) were female. Pre- and posttests detected increased percent change of students’ knowledge regarding different health issues. Open-ended questions highlighted pros and cons of the program, the most important skills and knowledge gained, suggestions and recommendations mentioned by the students to maximize the use of this type of workshops in the framework of strengthening and activating the initiative outcome. The trainer created a grading rubric to evaluate student’s video projects. CONCLUSION: The digital story is a lay method to capture meaningful, impactful stories that can be used to advocate for public health concerns and crises. The study highlights the need for high-quality research on the impact of DST in health professionals’ education and behaviors.