Knowledge of Health Medical Technologies’ Students about Herpes Zoster Virus

Aims: Herpes zoster, or shingles, is a contagious disease caused by the reactivation of a dormant virus and its subsequent transmission along the sensory nerve to the matching dermatomes. This study was carried out to determine the level of knowledge about the herpes zoster virus among health and medical technology students. Instrument Methods: This is an analytic cross-sectional study of senior students of the College of Health and Medical Technologies in Baghdad, examining their knowledge of the herpes zoster virus from November 2023 to February 2024. All fourth-year students (n=215) were collected as samples. The questionnaire had nine questions. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS 24 software by the Chi-square test.   Findings: Most of the studied sample (68.4%) were in the age group 20-24 years (24.6±3.4); 57.2% were female, 83.3% were single, and 84.7% lived in urban areas. Information was received from studying (45.1%), health workers (14.4%), family (12.1%), friends (11.2%), the internet (8.4%), and other sources (8.8%). Most study samples had acceptable knowledge scores; 36% were weak, and 8% had good scores. No significant associations were found between knowledge score and demographic variables. Conclusion: The overall knowledge score regarding herpes zoster virus among students of the College of Health and Medical Technologies in all departments is acceptable.