Monkeypox Post COVID19: Knowledge, Worrying, and Vaccine Adoption of the Arabic General Population

Abstract: Background: The outbreak of monkeypox was designated a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization on July 23, 2022. There have been more reported 60000 cases worldwide, most of which are in places where monkeypox has never been seen due to the travel of people who have the virus. This research aims to evaluate the Arabic general population on monkeypox disease, fears, and vaccine adoption after the WHO proclaimed a monkeypox epidemic and to compare these attitudes to those of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in some Arabic countries (Syria, Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Sudan, Algeria, and Iraq) between August 18 and September 7, 2022 to examine the Arabic people perspectives on monkeypox disease, fears, and vaccine adoption and to compare these attitudes to those of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inclusion criteria were the general public residing in Arabic nations and older than 18. This questionnaire has 32 questions separated into three sections: sociodemographic variables, prior COVID-19 exposure, and COVID-19 vaccination history. The second portion assesses knowledge and anxieties about monkeypox, while the third section includes the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD7) scale. Logistic regression analysis were performed to compute the adjusted odds ratios (aOR), and their confidence intervals (95%CI) using STATA (version 17.0) Results: A total of 3665 respondents from 17 Arabic countries were involved in this study. Almost two third (n= 2427, 66.2%) of participants expressed more worried about COVID -19 than monkeypox diseases. Regarding the major cause for concern about monkeypox, 39.5% of participants attributed their anxiety they or a member of their family may contract the illness, while 38.4% were concerned about another worldwide pandemic of monkeypox. According to the GAD 7 score, 71.7% of respondents showed very low anxiety toward monkeypox. 43.8% of the participants scored poor levels of knowledge about monkeypox disease. Participants with previous COVID-19 infection showed greater acceptance to receive the monkeypox vaccine 1.206 times than those with no previous infection. A higher concern for the monkeypox than COVID-19 was shown by the participants who perceived monkeypox as dangerous and virulent 3.097 times than those who didnt. Participants who have a chronic disease (aOR: 1.32; 95%CI: 1.09-1.60); participants worried about monkeypox (aOR: 1.21; 95%CI: 1.04-1.40); and perceived monkeypox as a dangerous and virulent disease (aOR: 2.25; 95%CI: 1.92-2.65); and excellent knowledge level (aOR: 2.28; 95%CI: 1.79-2.90) have emerged as significant predictors. Conclusion: Our study reported that three fourth of the participants were more concerned about COVID-19 than monkeypox disease. As well, most of the participants have inadequate levels of knowledge regarding monkeypox disease. Hence immediate action should be taken to address this problem. Consequently, it is crucial to learn about monkeypox and spread information about its prevention.