Relevance of Preventive Measures against COVID-19 and Other Communicable Diseases for University Employees and Students Returning to Face-to-Face Teaching

Abstract

This study links health protocol awareness and appreciation to communicable disease prevention in higher education institution in Santiago City, Isabela, Philippines. If employees and students understand the health regulations and a majority of respondents approve and are more likely to follow, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases can be prevented. This descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study had 368 participants. The researchers prepared a more extensive questionnaire to analyze employees and students returning to face-to-face schooling in 2021-2022's trust and reliance in Covid-19 and other communicable disease prevention. Five of the higher education institution's ten leading causes of morbidity are also identified and ranked in the province. Acute respiratory, urinary, lower respiratory, and skin infections are contagious.  Hypertension ranks fifth.  The higher education institution's employee and student population has reached the desired herd immunity level, which is much higher than the Regional level; Group I's health problems have been alleviated by the anti-Covid preventive measles vaccination; and all five diseases are preventable, making them good targets for preventive medicine.  The findings showed that "There is no significant difference between health data obtained from a general population of a region of the country and that of a school population in terms of the leading causes of morbidity and the current Covid-19 vaccination rate of the vulnerable population" and that "There is no significant difference between the level of appreciation of the relevance of health protocols between a segment of the population in a higher education institution grouped as those with health.”