An Insight Into the Knowledge and Practises Concerning Mosquito Borne Diseases in Urban Slums of Old Hubli

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Mosquito borne diseases is a growing urban problem because of unplanned urbanization, industrialization and excessive population growth coupled with rural to urban migration. In recent years, vector-borne diseases have emerged as a serious public health problem in countries of the South-East Asia Region, including India. For developing a suitable and effective health education strategy, it is inevitable to understand the level of knowledge of the community, their attitude and practices regarding mosquito borne diseases. OBJECTIVES: to know the knowledge and practices regarding mosquito borne diseases among people of urban slums of old Hubli. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study among a pre-determined sample of 400 households, by stratified systematic random sampling was carried out in the month of June and July. RESULTS: out of 400 respondents, 71.8% were females and 28% were males, 32.8% were educated till primary and 58% belonged to lower middle socio-economic status. Awareness regarding malaria, dengue, JE was poor compared to chikungunya (60% aware). Rainy season was rightly quoted as the season for MBD's, 96% didn't knew about breeding places of mosquito and 49.8% were unaware of the mode of transmission. Friends/relatives were the most common source of information. The use of personal protective measures was seen in less than 50% of the respondents and 96.3% of them used only at night. The community measures undertaken in that area to prevent MBD's was minimal and consisted of only insecticide fogging (44%). CONCLUSION: A significant number were unaware of MBD's, the natural outbreak of chikungunya provided the much needed information of the disease at the place. Strengthening personal protective and community measures to prevent MBD's is the need of the hour.

Community education status on knowledge for mosquito borne diseases (Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya) in Indore city

“…Usage of PPMs was improved after education intervention among both literates and illiterates. Another study on similar topic by Kantesh Shidaraddi et al 10 shows in his results that The awareness regarding malaria (24.5%), dengue (15%) and Japanese encephalitis (2.5%) were considerably low as compared to chikungunya (60%).…”