Abstract
Background: The nipah virus is a likely cause of serious fatalities with great potential to spread in South and Southeast Asia as an emerging, zoonotic infection. Poor awareness and readiness of students in health care could interfere with early identification and prompt response of future outbreaks.
Objective: To establish the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on Nipah virus among healthcare students.
Methodology: The study was cross-sectional carried out between January and March 2026 at the Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute (PAF-IAST), Pakistan. Convenience sampling was used to recruit a total of 312 healthcare students (Pharm D, MBBS and others). A validated questionnaire consisting of a structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data to address socio-demographics and KAP domains. A Likert scale was used to measure the responses. The SPSS version 26 was used in the analysis of data and descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used; a p-value of or less was viewed as significant.
Results: Among 312 participants, 47.1% were aged 17–19 years, 57.7% were females, and 55.8% were Pharm D students. In general, moderate knowledge was most prevalent among domains: 32.7% in animal to human transmission, 35.6% in respiratory symptoms, and 33.7% in severity of disease. Knowledge on the availability of vaccines was, however, low with 30.8% reporting negligible and 29.8% low knowledge. Attitude measurement revealed that 43.3% were moderately confident in community coping strength and 35.6% were moderately confident in authorities and 33.7% reported a moderately threatening risk of the disease. Prevention practices were changing: 33.7% demonstrated moderate levels of consideration to report suspected cases, 31.7% moderate, and 28.8% very high compliance with hand hygiene, and 32.7% low compliance with mask use on animals handling. There was minimal educational outreach practice, with 32.7% ending up practicing moderately. There was no significant association between knowledge (p = 0.198), attitude (p = 0.449), or practice levels (p = 0.810) based on the field of study.
Conclusion: Moderate KAP on Nipah virus with significant knowledge gap on preventive practice and knowledge area among healthcare students are observed. Precise education-related interventions, interdisciplinary education, and elevated infection control awareness should be needed to advance preparedness to potential zoonotic outbreak reactions.