In this file photo, a sign displaying symptoms of mpox is displayed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Nov. 15, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the steady increase in patients of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, the level of public understanding of related information remains low, a survey showed Monday.
The survey conducted by a team led by Professor You Myoung-soon at Seoul National University of 1,000 men and women found that 39.1 percent of the respondents said they have relatively little knowledge of the disease.
The share of those who said there is nothing they accurately know about the disease stood at 27 percent for men and 41.1 percent for women.
This ratio was 43.9 percent for those in their 20s and 30s.
When it came to a question asking “Is there no treatment or vaccine available in South Korea? (answer is X),” the ratio of wrong answers was 24.9 percent for treatment and 31.2 percent for a vaccine, higher than that of the correct answer (19.7 percent for treatment and 15.2 percent for vaccine).
For this question, the ratio of “don’t know” answers was higher than 50 percent.
Meanwhile, this survey showed that the public’s risk perception (on a scale of five points) towards the possibility that mpox could prevail domestically or the respondent could be infected was lower than average (3 points).
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
