AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Virus as a Weapon: Awareness of STEM Senior High School Students on Bioterrorism

Author’s Names:

Jan Alfred Castro

Eric Reign Hernandez

Prescious Hazel Ocampo

Lester Quizon

Institutional Affiliation: Angeles City Science High School

Conducted through online mobilities

Section: 12- Arber

Research Teacher: Mr. Arnie L. Guevarra

Date Started: December 18, 2020

Due Date: March 04, 2021

 Abstract

Introduction: Bioterrorism is everyone’s problem especially in this kind of time where

pandemic is still on going. This will be a real threat, that’s even more terrifying than Covid-19 as

Bioterrorism is intentional. There are a lot of factors that will be affected such as economics,

politics, education and etc. Bioterrorism have its own tremendous past wherein it was even used

in war. To prevent this from happening, people should know beforehand the risks, proper

planning and executing of plans, leadership, medical preparedness and a lot more. Educating the

student will be much of help since they will be the next in line to work for the country. Assessing

their knowledge and awareness will primarily be the first step to achieve a long lasting goal.

Objective: The objectives of this study was to know level of awareness of people towards

bioterrorism and its risks, to assess the knowledge of people towards bioterrorism and its risks

and to know what measures could be implemented base on the result of the study about

Bioterrorism.

Materials and methods: The study group consisted of students of Angeles City Science High

School. The applied research method was using of questionnaires.

Results: 40.2% know what Bioterrorism is. 66.3% heard, watched or read it from online

searches/ internet. 53.9% pointed out that they don’t know bioterrorism that much and they only

know what it means. 77.5% doesn’t know the history of Bioterrorism. 60.8% rated the

awareness of people poor or lacking. 71.6% said that we lack concrete plans the most during

pandemic. 37.3% claimed that we can fully prevent Bioterrorism from happening. 40.2% said

that they are dissatisfied with health care system as of 2021. 72.5% said politics will be our main

problem once Bioterrorism occur. 62.7% claimed that the threat of Bioterrorism in the
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Philippines was real. 77.5% said that medical personnel should be the social educator of

Bioterrorism. 80.4% said that problems about Bioterrorism should be presented publicly. 97.1%

never have any trainings or seminars about Bioterrorism. 84.3% claimed that their knowledge

towards Bioterrorism isn’t sufficient. 98% said that nurses should train about Bioterrorism.

Conclusions:

1. Most of the students only know limited things about Bioterrorism such as its meaning and

some of its risk and prevention but more likely, they barely know its history. They also heard

or read it mainly through online searches and articles.

2. The awareness of the people in Bioterrorism is low and needs attention. Trainings and

seminars about Bioterrorism are rare and most of the student doesn’t have enough knowledge

to protect themselves and people around them during a Bioterrorism attack.

3. Most of the students doesn’t also have satisfactory towards everyone knowledge,

awareness, preparedness and prevention plans.

4. People will more likely to suffer over governance or under leadership of people who lacks

knowledge towards Bioterrorism once it occur.

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Knowledge, Awareness, Prevention.

 Acknowledgement

We appreciate everyone who participated in our study as we have a goal to fulfill which is more

likely to inform everyone about Bioterrorism. Angeles City Senior High School helped us

throughout the study as they support us and build a better version of their students.

Because of Covid-19, we can’t go outside and meet face to face to conduct a study like the

traditional one. Amidst this pandemic, we want everyone to stay strong and never give up despite

the battles that we are all facing. Cunningly, we acknowledge this pandemic as it gave us idea

and a goal to reach and inform everyone.

Dedication

We dedicate our research to our families, friends, teachers, schoolmates and lastly, to the people

who gave their best to save lives of countless people suffering from Covid-19. To all the front

liners, we are so proud of you and you deserve all the happiness in this world. We want to

dedicate this study to those people who never bring us down and are always there for us in trying

times while doing this research as a whole. It is our pleasure to be an advocate of awareness and

knowledge as long as the reason behind doing this are always with us and will guide us to the

best they can.

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Table of Contents

Introduction

Statement of the Problem

Significance of the Study

Scope and Delimitation

Benefits and Beneficiaries

Objectives of the Study

Literature Review

Methodology

Research Design

Locale

Respondents of the Study

Sampling Method

Research Instruments

Data Gathering Procedures

Ethics of the Research

Variables and levels of Data

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Introduction

Awareness of students on Bioterrorism should be one of the priorities because they will

be the next line of workers of this country. One of the serious threats on humanity this 2020 was

Covid-19 as it is an overall problem worldwide (WHO, 2021). The pandemic that started

originally from China spread quickly by close contact with the infected (Vaughn, 2020). The

researchers thought of what will happen if ever this type of virus will be used as a weapon and if

we are aware of the possible biological warfare that can happen in the near future.

According to J.A Poupard (2009), the meaning of biological warfare (BW) is the use of

any biological agent as a weapon against living organisms like humans, animal, or crops with the

intent to cause casualties and destruction against a target population.

According to J.B Tucker (1999), since 1985, there has been a sharp increase in the

number of terrorist events involving threatened or real use of chemical, biological, radiological

or nuclear materials. However, even though the incentive to inflict mass casualties exists, few

terrorist organizations possess the scientific-technical capabilities needed for a biological agent

to be successfully released on a large scale.

It was used in World War Two and approximately 500 million people died from released

toxins, it happens between Japan and China. The Japan took advantage of an infectious disease

and that causes large death roll. Bioterrorism risks on humanity were even called ‘deadlier form

of killing’ for the reason that not only the national security are in deep risks but actually the

whole nation (Frischknecht, 2003).

By 14th congress of the republic, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago introduced Agri-

bioterrorism to the court. She described it as maliciously using of biological agents as weapon
against the agricultural industry (listdata, 2015). Fungi, bacteria and viruses can damage the

economy, society and all sorts of sectors equally. It is even a fact that rather than nuclear or

chemical weapons, this bio warfare constitutes the highest menace (Williams M., Armstrong L.,

& Sizemore D., 2020).

The goal of the researcher was to come up right preparedness plan before such

phenomena occurs. Researchers ought to know the knowledge of doctors, specifically Medtech,

police and random people as well. 

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine why bioterrorism can be a risk on humanity. Specific questions the

researchers aim to answer are the following:

1. How are students aware of Bioterrorism?

2. How are they knowledgeable towards the risks of Bioterrorism?

3. What measures can be implemented or proposed base on the result of the study about

bioterrorism?

Significance of the Study

As the world is suffering from a pandemic, disease/viruses can be used intentionally to

put humanity in danger. Bioterrorism was already done before and it can happen especially in

this modern day where we have the technology to easily recreate this viruses. This study can be
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

beneficial not only for us to be educated but also for the officials of our country or even

internationally to raise awareness, educate people about bioterrorism and to stop/prevent

bioterrorism from happening.

Scope and Delimitation

This study will only cover the level of awareness and knowledge of certain

individuals about bioterrorism, the researchers will survey random people, and other individuals

with knowledge about bioterrorism in Angeles City Science High School.

Since there are some people who are not available at the time of the interview, the researchers

will only take a survey on those people who agreed to participate in the study. By the use of

online mediums, the researchers will send surveys that tackle about bioterrorism. It will mainly

focus to figure out the level of awareness of people.

Benefits and Beneficiaries

This research will benefit the other researchers, students, doctors, government and

people who are involved in maintaining the health of society and avoiding the risks of the said

bioterrorism.

Students. This study will help students, our future workers in the community to understand the

main problems the pandemic will bring to everyone might it be sociological, economic, political,

education and etc.

Doctors. This study can be useful to collaborate with evolving technology and medicine. It can

be used as an easy access of community awareness, knowledge, preparedness and even ideal cure

or adjustments.

Government. The primary people who will lead the country when pandemic comes was the

government. This study will help the government to prepare and plan for future pandemics that

might occur.

Future Researchers. This study can be beneficial to future researchers, who have interest to

make change and fix the awareness of people and the mentality as well.

Objectives of the Study

Following are the main objectives of the study:

1. To know level of awareness of people towards bioterrorism and its risks.

2. To assess the knowledge of people towards bioterrorism and its risks

3. To know what measures could be implemented base on the result of the study about

Bioterrorism.

Literature Review

Bioterrorism refers to “a release of biological agents or toxins that affect human

beings, animals, or plants with the intent to harm or intimidate” (Encyclopedia of Environmental

Health (Second Edition), 2019). Meanwhile, Terrorism itself refers to “the unlawful use of force

and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (28 C.F.R.

Section 0.85).

Bioterrorism attack refers to “the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs

(agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants” (CDC, 2007).

 Biological Agent refers to “a microorganism (or a toxin derived from it) which causes

disease in man, plants or animals or which causes the deterioration of material.”  Biological

Defense refers to “methods, plans and procedures involved in establishing and executing

defensive measures against biological attack. (Procedures, equipment and training would be

encompassed in this definition).” Biological Warfare refers to “the employment of biological

agents to produce casualties in man or animals and damage to plants or material. The NATO

definition then continues, to include, "or defense against such employment" (NATO).

The use of contagious diseases and other biological weapons were first recognize for

their potential impact on people way back 14th century BC, when the Hittites send diseased rams

to their enemies to weaken them (Trevistano, Sl., 2007). In the 4th Century BC, A Greek

historian named Herodotus relates that the Scythian archers used to dip their arrows in a mixture

of decomposing cadavers of adders and human blood to infect them (Grmek, MD., 197)

According to Eneh, OC., (2014), some historians reported that using arrows or other

vessels, that are infected by different product extracted from animals and plants, are used to

attack human enemy. Catapulting infected cadavers is a technique used throughout the modern

period, from the siege of Bohemian City of Carolstein in 1422 to the siege of Swedish Army in

Reval (Estonia) in 1710 (Riedel, SM, 2004)

 Smallpox was represented as the most effective biological weapon of Occidental war

during the following centuries. It was used several times to infect Native Americans after

offering blankets to them from a smallpox hospitals,(Christopher GW, Cieslak TJ, Pavlin JA, &

Eitzen EM, 1999).

According to Robertson AG,&, Robertson LJ (1995)., the modern era of Biological

Warfare starts with the foundation of microbiology by Louis Pasteur. They gave scientist the

possibility of producing specific pathogens, isolating them, and possibly controlling how they

spread.

Evidences of nations, involve in World War I such as Germany and France, creating

biological warfare programs starts appearing (Poupart JA, Miller LA, 1992). With this, along

with the possibility of chemical warfare being use on the battlefield, a Geneva Protocol for the

Prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological

methods of warfare was approved in 1925, banning the use of biological weapons, (Trevistano

Sl, 1979).

The Unit 731, officially named the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory, was

developed by the Japanese during the interwar period. Japanese scientist did a lot of different

kinds of experimentation to the prisoners such as, inoculating the human subjects with an

organism causing the disease and not treating them in order to study their effects.( Eitzen EM,&,

Takafuji ET, 1997)

In 1984, a religious group called the Rajneesh cult, did a biological attack in different

restaurants in Dalles, Oregon by contaminating the salad bars eith salmonella typhimurium

which resulted in 751 cases.(Carus WS., 2001) In 1985, another religious cult called Aum
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Shinrikyo, was developing a program on rudimentary biological weapons containing clostrodium

botulinum and B. anthracis, (Carus WS., 2001)

According to Jaton, K., & Greub G.,(2014), the most recent example of bioterrorism

happened in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack of 9 September 2001. Letters

infected with anthrax was sent to government officials and journalist, infecting 22, and 5 dying

from anthrax or the complications caused by it.

Bioterrorism agents are pathogenic organisms or biological toxins that are used to

produce death and disease in humans, animals, or plants for terrorist purposes (Potential

Bioterrorism Agents. (n.d.) Accusations that epidemics or pandemics are “biological warfare”

are not new. Humans rightly have an innate fear of disease. “This plague is a deliberate attack”

is a trope that is thousands of years old. Disease outbreaks have long been blamed on convenient

scapegoats, from medieval plagues, which were often blamed on the Jews or heretics, to more

recent conspiracy theories. This kind of explained coronavirus is not intentional but the impact it

have is very huge (Kaszeta, D., 2020).

Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins, or other agents to

cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. According to experts, the threat of global

bioterrorism is increasing (Rose, L., 2021). Biological weapons can be difficult to control or

predict in a battlefield situation, since there is a substantial risk that troops on both sides will be

affected. However, if a terrorist is interested in attacking a distant target as a lone operant,

bioterrorism carries much less risk to the person (Newman, T., 2018).

Bioterrorism is a much greater national public health threat if the nation's preparedness

and readiness plans do not address the needs and perspectives of, for example, low-income
residents, racially and ethnically diverse communities, and other "special populations."

(McGough et al., 2005). It became clear that biological weapons are of limited military use

because they pose a considerable risk to the attacker as well as to the attacked. (Beck, 2003).

Many high-profile incidents over past decades have exposed vulnerability to the

deliberate release of biological or chemical agents as a terrorist instrument and the effect of such

attacks on the number of casualties, the destruction of social or economic structures and the

deterioration in quality of life for affected population will depend in part upon actions taken prior

to and immediately following an identified incident (Ursano et al., 2004). The biological warfare

includes the use of any biological agent as a weapon directed towards humans, animals or crops

with the intention of destroying, harming or generating a sense of destruction against the target

population. (Poupard & Miller, 2009).

If certain bioterrorism agents found their way into animal populations, they could

spread widely through animal-to-animal transmission and prove difficult to control.

(Rabinowitz, 2006). Rodents can also function as reservoirs for diseases that have been spread

during a bioterrorism attack and cause recurring disease outbreaks. It is relatively easy to infect

wild rodents with certain pathogens or to release infected rodents, and the action would be

difficult to trace. (Lohmus, et al., 2013).

Fear-inducing threats of contamination, the likelihood of covert release of poisonous

agents, and the possibility of contagion may result in large numbers of adverse

emotional/psychological reactions. (Compton, et al., 2005). Psychosocial casualties may appear

in large numbers in the emergency department or the doctor’s office immediately after an

incident, creating major challenges for even the best-prepared healthcare facility. (Benedek,

2002)
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

As the threat from biological weapons is more real than ever, this is most unsatisfactory, and

the US has been at the forefront of raising awareness of the threat. Plans for addressing a

bioterrorism attack have been introduced by several nations. In the USA, more than 120 major

cities now have special teams that can respond to a possible biological attack 24 hours a day.

Given today's limited financial sources, international cooperation is crucial in the field of

research and development to strengthen our knowledge of bio agents and develop rapid methods

for their identification and detection. Training personnel in circumstances involving the threat or

use of biological warfare agents is another field of cross-border cooperation. (Roffey et al.

2002).

Nations have a broad variety of choices for the introduction of an aggressive biological

weapons program. A number of countries have had offensive biological warfare programs since

1928, and most certainly still do. The United States (until 1972) and, in particular, the former

Soviet Union (until 1992) all had comprehensive and well-developed biological warfare

programs. Both countries produced ten or more agents, including poisons, that could be used to

kill or incapacitate people, as well as destroy crops and livestock (Jansen et al. 2014)

Biological agents are being used to induce panic and terror among citizens, their number of

usage and casualties remain very difficult to understand because: Before the fact of the

Pasteurian microbiology period was often obscured and exploited by politicians, knowledge and

understanding are largely missing, as the 'facts' regarding biological attacks cannot be freely

disseminated, given its inherently non-ethical existence, and because information can be labeled

by the authorities as confidential, as it can be considered to be sensitive (Greub G., Grobusch

M.P. 2014).
 Previous pathological studies of fatal human cases of inhalational anthrax have described the

presence and distribution of B. anthracis in formalin-fixed tissues by using special stains. During

the bioterrorism outbreak,special stains and novel B. Anthracis cell wall and capsule-specific

IHC assays were used to study tissue samples from surviving and non-surviving patients who

had received multiple antibiotics. Knowledge of the consequences of effective treatment for B.

Anthracis on tissues has been limited (Guarner J. et al. 2003).

When a bioterrorism agent epidemic is well underway and recognized, visibility is improved

and the risk of misdiagnosis decreases dramatically. The real problem, however, is accurately

diagnosing the index cases. Neurological symptoms are likely to arise in patients exposed to

bioterrorist agents, e.g. botulism, or respiratory symptoms, plague pneumonia, inhalation

anthrax, tularemic pneumonia, gastrointestinal illnesses, enteric pathogens, bleeding diatheses,

such as the African hemorrhagic fevers, or pneumonias, such as tularemic pneumonia, inhalation

anthrax,or plague pneumonia (Cunha, B.A. 2002).

The clarity in which a certain clinical presentation may refer to a certain pathogen will affect

the warning period for clinicians: anthrax and plague will probably be identified quickly,

although knowledge of the distinct clinical presentation of smallpox would likely increase in the

future. On the other hand,Since the clinical manifestations of tularemia, Q fever, and brucellosis

are non-specific, differential diagnosis in cases of such outbreaks will most likely be deferred

before a laboratory diagnosis is made, even though clinical suspicion of a cluster of cases will

almost certainly be created. (Pappas G., Panagopoulou P., & Akritidis N. 2009).
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Methodology

Research Design

The researchers applied quantitative design for this study. This research design is a

descriptive study research. This method of research design is focused on giving comprehensive

summarization of specific events experienced by individuals or group of people. However, the

goal of descriptive study is to acquire pure cases information to be validated although it is

considered as at least theoretical or factual it is still recommended by a lot of researchers for a

study.

The researchers chose this kind of research design to gather the awareness and

understanding of people about Bioterrorism and its risks to human being.

Locale

The study will be conducted for Angeles City Science High School research but will take

place online due to Covid-19 health threat. The research will survey the respondents through

online messaging platform depends on their convenience. The researchers chose to conduct this

research online to prevent the spread of corona virus and follow safety protocols. The study will

be conducted on the second semester of the academic year 2021-2022.

Respondents of the Study

Researchers will interview random people in Angeles City Science High School to see if

they are aware of bioterrorism and its risk to everyone. The researchers may gather respondents
nearby Pampanga for convenience of everyone. Each individual who agreed to participate in the

research will have the authority to be confidential on their given information.

Sampling Method

The sampling design being used in determining the number of this participant in this

study was purposive sampling method since the researchers will search for participants who have

knowledge on the subject of bioterrorism. Aside from that, the researchers will also talk to a

medtech in order to gather reliable information about Bioterrorism.

Research Instruments

The main instrument for collecting the information needed for this research was through

a survey since the researchers will only collect information regarding the respondent’s

knowledge and awareness on bioterrorism.

The researchers reconstructed some questionnaires from an existing study named

‘Assessment of Bioterrorism Awareness in a Group of Nurses.’ (MicroMedicine 3 (1) 20-25,

2015)

The research instrument which is a survey paper will be structured question. The

following are the questions that the researcher will ask:

- Do you know what Bioterrorism is?

- Where did you heard, watched, or read it from?

- How much do you know about Bioterrorism?

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

- Do you know the history of Bioterrorism?

- How do you rate the overall awareness of people about bioterrorism?

- What do you think we lack the most during this pandemic?

- Do you think we can fully prevent bioterrorism from happening?

- How satisfied are you with our healthcare system as of now?

- In what conceptual issue do we suffer the most if so bioterrorism occur?

- Is the threat of bio-terrorism in Philippines real?

- What are most likely targets for bioterrorism?

- Infection with biological warfare agents spreads mainly through?

- Which groups of pathogens are used as biological warfare agents?

- Epidemiological guidelines showing bio-terrorist attacks

- Who should be a social educator on bio-terrorism?

- Should the problem of bio-terrorism be widely presented to the public?

- Have you ever been exposed, in your professional life, to the threat of using bacteria,

viruses, and toxins?

- Have you ever participated in the training on the risk of using biological warfare and

regulations in case of a bio-terrorism attack?

- Is your knowledge on procedures for a patient with a particularly dangerous disease, e.g.,

after bio-terrorist attack, sufficient?

- Is training on bioterrorism for nurses needed?

- Do you have any suggestions/recommendations to raise the awareness and preparedness

of people for bioterrorism?

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will collect data by only using online basis. The participants can

participate on their own chosen comfort of meeting through online chat or call. Online mediums

such as Messenger, Viber, Discord, DM’s through Instagram, Twitter and etc. are complied.

The researchers will conduct a survey according to the respondent’s schedule. They

will be the one who will choose the time to allow the respondents to answer properly.

Ethics of Research

The following conducts are presented in the study: Honesty, Integrity, Objectivity,

Carefulness and Researchers’ Responsibility.

These ethical considerations are deemed necessary for the study to assume the honesty

and confidentiality, and safety of the respondents.

Variables and Levels of Data

The independent (treatment) variable was the Bioterrorism as a subject in the study

along with the participants which are the Angeles City Science High School students. This

independent variable was a nominal type. The dependent variable was the knowledge and

awareness of students. This dependent variable was a nominal type as well.

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

Results

Table 1. Group Characteristics.

Number of Senior High School Students surveyed 102
Sex: F/M F: 60 F: 58.8%
M: 42 M: 41.2%
Age: (min and max) 16-20 years of old 16: 9 16: 8.9%
17: 51 17: 50%
18: 39 18: 38.2%
19: 2 19: 2%
20: 1 20: 1%
Grade level (11 and 12) Grade 11: 70 G11: 68.6%
Grade 12: 32 G12: 31.4%
Section Alderstein: 2 2%
Adler: 0 0%
Agnesi: 7 6.9%
Adams: 9 8.8%
Anderson: 4 3.9%
Ayres: 2 2%
Alford: 3 2.9%
Arbault: 3 2.9%
Artstein: 5 4.9%
Autonne: 2 2%
Ampere: 5 4.9%
Alcala: 6 5.9%
Arrhenius: 12 11.8%
Aristarchus:7 6.9%
Alhazen: 7 6.9%
Avicenna: 9 8.8%
 Avogadro: 6 5.9%
Arber: 13 12.7%

Analysis of the questionnaire results:

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM
Discussion

Bioterrorism is not a popular term in the Philippines as it is. But it is everyone’s

concern and it is a danger to all of the multicellular organisms such as plants, animals and of

course the human. The researchers targeted Seniors of Angeles City Science High School to see

the level of awareness and knowledge of the STEM students. There are three things most likely

that everyone missed out during the pandemic and according to students, everyone most likely

lack of concrete plans at it again votes of 71.6%. Second is Public awareness 17.6% and lastly,

budget 10.8%. Everyone more likely to suffer during this pandemic but what will happen if a

real bioterrorism occur? According to 72.5% of the student body, everyone will suffer the most

in politics or the governance which deals with leadership. 64.7% answered economics, 58.8% for

environment, 50% for mental health, 49% for education and 44.1% for science. The survey

showed that 62.7% believes that the threat of Bioterrorism in the Philippines is real, 11.8% said

no and 25.5% doesn’t have opinion towards the matter. In this case, student’s opinion on who

should be held responsible when that time comes shows that they expect medical personnel such

as doctors, nurses and physicians to be the social educator 77.5%. Second is media 14.7%, then

specialized military units 6.9% and lastly, the rescue service such as police and fire service for

1%.

The survey shows that 40.2% of the respondents know Bioterrorism, 26.5% are

uncertain, 21.6% knows a bit while we have 21.6% who doesn’t know Bioterrorism at all.

66.3% have the majority that indicates this people knew Bioterrorism through Internet

researches/articles. 53.9% doesn’t really know much about Bioterrorism and 29.4% knows the

whereabouts, 12.7% don’t know anything about it and only 3.9% who’s confident and know

almost everything towards Bioterrorism. And because that’s the case, only 5.9% knows the
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

history of Bioterrorism and majority of 77.5% said they don’t know and 16.7% said that they a

bit.

In case of a Bioterrorism attack, students have to know the basics of what they should

do, the risks and the implementations. The survey shows that 82.4% are aware that a biological

attack may or may not be immediately obvious. While 75.8% knows that it will take time to

figure out exactly what the illness is how it should be treated and who is in danger. Under some

reasons, the students shows that consideration of installing a High-Efficiency Particulate Air

(HEPA) filter in your furnace return duct, which will filter out most biological agents that may

enter your house is not that known to them having only 18.7% second to the lowest ‘Effective

medications include streptomycin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and doxycycline’ 11%. The

researchers aimed for the participants to rate the level of awareness about Bioterrorism and the

researchers got 60.8% saying it’s poor and only 2% saying that the awareness is excellent,

leaving the average as 37.3%. To prove this point, the researchers tested the knowledge of the

respondents to see the level of knowledge and awareness. According to 35.3% of students,

biologically active substances obtained by chemical synthesis are included as biological weapon.

28.4% said biological weapons include biologically active substances produced by a living

organism, 25.5% said virus and 10.8% voted for bacteria. Researchers ask their opinions on to

what are most likely to be the targets of Bioterrorism and where does the infection with

biological warfare spread mainly through. 71.6% answered that people are the main target and

15.7% said it’s the environment, crops and farm animals shares the same percentage 4.9% and

food got 2.9%. By this given scenario, 83.3% said that the infection spread mostly through

respiratory tract.9.8% said you can be infected through open wounds and 6.9% said that it is

through digestive tract.

 The groups of pathogen used as biological warfare agents are Anthrax, plague,

smallpox, tularemia, botulin toxin, hemorrhagic fevers. To test the participants, the researchers

asked ‘What are the groups of pathogen used as agents of Bioterrorism’ and 52.9% got the

correct answer. The researchers asked the participants which are the groups of pathogen are they

familiar with. Plague got 90.2%, Smallpox 74.5%, Viral Hemorrhagic fevers 42.2%,

Anthrax40.2%, Botulism 12.7% and Tularemia got 8.8%. ‘Epidemiological guidelines showing

bio-terrorist attack are:’, 48% answered Incidence of atypical diseases in a population or

diseases caused by a microorganism non-existent on this territory, 30.4% said high number of

patients or mortality of unknown etiology and 21..6% answered High number of patients with

similar symptoms.

There are many speculations when it comes to threats, some people think that giving

knowledge to everyone can cause fear and panic while some think it is better so that we know the

problem and we will all think of a solution. 80.4% have their opinions that spreading the

problems publicly about Bioterrorism should be done. 12.7% said maybe and 6.9% voted for a

‘no.’ Majority of students 95.1%, haven’t been exposed to threat of viruses, bacteria and etc.

while only 5 participants or 4.9% have already been. One participant shared his/her experience

about it and said that in their previous researches, they had to cultivate different types of

bacteria for the experimentation as a part of their study. They needed to take many

precautions and follow certain protocol so that they wouldn’t get sick. On the other hand,

97.1% never did participate in trainings or seminars about Bioterrorism and 2.9% only did.

The participants rated their own knowledge on procedures for a patient with disease after a

bioterrorist attack. 84.3% said their knowledge isn’t sufficient and 15.7% said it is sufficient.

98% these training are needed for nurses and 2% stated they don’t need this kind of training.
AWARENESS OF STUDENTS ON BIOTERRORISM

According to 40.2% student body, they are dissatisfied to our health care system as of

now. 30.4% said it is neutral, 22.5% said that they are very dissatisfied, 6.9% are satisfied while

no one voted for very satisfied. To sum this up, it shows that the number of dissatisfaction is

much more than the satisfaction.

Researchers leave the recommendations open and got useful answers from the

participants. Most of them said that, everyone must be educated and aware. Thus, people can use

social media as a medium to spread awareness. Some of them also said that people shouldn’t

believe in bluffs and always listen to professional. One participant also suggested that a doctor or

a scientist should sit in legislation. And another one also stated “Bioterrorism is a real threat for

the humanity. These can wipe us all. That is why we need to educate everyone about these

topic. People might get scared to hear this "Bioterrorism" but at least they have the knowledge

on how to act if this will happen in the future. Prevention is better than cure.” It is important

to learn and understand the nature of Bioterrorism in order to find a way to fight it properly.

Conclusions

1. Most of the students only know limited things about Bioterrorism such as its meaning and

some of its risk and prevention but more likely, they barely know its history. They also heard

or read it mainly through online searches and articles.

2. The awareness of the people in Bioterrorism is low and needs attention. Trainings and

seminars about Bioterrorism are rare and most of the student doesn’t have enough knowledge

to protect themselves and people around them during a Bioterrorism attack.

3. Most of the students doesn’t also have satisfactory towards everyone knowledge,

awareness, preparedness and prevention plans.

4. People will more likely to suffer over governance or under leadership of people who lacks

knowledge towards Bioterrorism once it occur.

Author’s Contribution

All authors contibuted equally to this work, read and approved the final manuscript.

Transparency Declaration

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

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