{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:44:27Z","timestamp":1788482667990,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,4]],"date-time":"2022-04-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1649030400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":3,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100020950","name":"National Science and Technology Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["Strategic research fund\/NSTC 101\/6\/8"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Strategic research fund\/NSTC 101\/6\/8"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100020950","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100020950","name":"National Science and Technology Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["NSTC 101\/6\/8"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSTC 101\/6\/8"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100020950","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>To explore the health professionals\u2019 and community members\u2019 perspectives on the factors influencing transmission of the novel COVID-19 in Zambia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>An exploratory qualitative study using in-depth interviews as data collection technique.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>Four primary healthcare facilities and local communities of Lusaka city and Chirundu international border town under Lusaka province, Zambia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title><jats:p>Purposive sampling of 60 study participants comprising health professionals (n=15) and community members (n=45). Health staff were health inspectors and surveillance officers. Community members included public market traders, civic and religious leaders, immigration officers, bus and international truck drivers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Both health professionals and community members were aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, the preventive and control measures. Nevertheless, stark differences were observed on the two groups\u2019 perspectives on COVID-19 and the factors influencing its transmission. Most health staff expressed high personal risk and susceptibility to the disease and a positive attitude towards the prevention and control measures. Conversely, myths and misconceptions influenced most community members\u2019 perspectives on the disease and their attitude towards the COVID-19 guidelines. Participants were unanimous on the low levels of adherence to the COVID-19 preventive and control measures in the community. Reasons for non-adherence included limited information on COVID-19, negative attitude towards COVID-19 guidelines, social movement and travel patterns, networks and interactions, living and work conditions, water and sanitation facilities, and observation of behaviours of important role models such as politicians and other community leaders. These factors were perceived to increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings highlight important factors influencing transmission of COVID-19 in Zambia. Future interventions should focus on providing information to mitigate myths and misconceptions, increasing people\u2019s risk perception to the disease, and improving attitude towards the prevention and control interventions and mitigating structural and socioeconomic barriers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2021-057589","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,5]],"date-time":"2022-04-05T16:06:16Z","timestamp":1649174776000},"page":"e057589","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Perspectives on factors influencing transmission of COVID-19 in Zambia: a qualitative study of health workers and community members"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9077-1436","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cephas","family":"Sialubanje","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Doreen C","family":"Sitali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nawa","family":"Mukumbuta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Libonda","family":"Liyali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Phyllis Ingutu","family":"Sumbwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Harvey Kakoma","family":"Kamboyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary","family":"Ng'andu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fastone Matthew","family":"Goma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2022051704290230000_12.4.e057589.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5"},{"key":"2022051704290230000_12.4.e057589.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e261-e270","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(20)30073-6","article-title":"The effect of control strategies to reduce social mixing on outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan, China: a modelling study","volume":"5","author":"Prem","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"2022051704290230000_12.4.e057589.3","unstructured":"World Health Organisation . 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