Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice among Egyptian Travelers: Pre-travel Vaccination and Malaria Prophylaxis

Abstract

Introduction: More than one third of travelers to developing countries report health problems when traveling. The Egyptian Ministry of Health reports the occurrence of 400 cases of malarial infection yearly among Egyptian travelers. This article aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of Egyptian travelers towards infectious diseases, vaccination, and malaria chemoprophylaxis. Methods: A survey was conducted at Cairo International Airport and included 1500 travelers. The questionnaire inquired about the travelers’ knowledge about infectious diseases at their destinations and their KAP regarding vaccination, malaria, and its prophylaxis. Results: Most travelers (68%) had poor knowledge, specifically; 90.2%, 85.6%, 88.5% did not know the endemic diseases at their destinations, the modes of disease transmission, or the protective measures against disease, respectively. Knowledge about malaria prevalence, symptoms, modes of transmission, and prevention was good in only 18%, 29.8%, 6.7%, and 21.4% of travelers, respectively. Poor practice of malaria prophylactic measures was found in 66.3% of travelers. Although 91.3% did not receive any vaccination, the general attitude towards vaccination was good. The total travel health knowledge, practice, general attitude toward vaccination, and the perceived benefits of malarial prophylaxis scores were significantly correlated with older age and high socioeconomic level. Most of the studied travelers (90.4%) did not carry or use malaria chemoprophylaxis. Ignorance was the main barrier to receiving vaccines (65.3%) and to adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis (88.3%). Conclusion: Egyptian travelers have poor travel health knowledge and practices. Their knowledge and practice scores improve with older age, urban residence, and higher educational levels. They have a good attitude towards vaccination, and ignorance was the main barrier to sound practices.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice toward COVID-19 among Egyptians

“…Logistic regression analysis found that low education was significant predictor for more unsatisfactory knowledge, and poor practice which concedes with other KAP studies [ 39 ]. Insufficient income was a predictor for more negative attitude which agrees with previous studies [ 36 , 40 , 41 ].…”

Investigating Awareness Regarding Travel-Related Infectious Disease Prevention in a Metropolitan Area

“…Model I illustrates a noteworthy association between younger age and knowledge of travel-related infectious diseases. This finding aligns with a previous study conducted among Chinese travelers [44] but contradicts the results of studies conducted among Arabian [45] and Egyptian [41] travelers. These differences might be the result of socio-cultural disparities, where variations in education, healthcare access, and cultural norms regarding travel and health can substantially impact knowledge levels concerning travel-related infectious diseases.…”

“…Several studies in the literature have investigated knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards travel-related infectious diseases; however, these studies mainly focus on specific populations, such as international travelers or frequent flyers, or on a specific travel-related infectious disease [27,28,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. The literature highlights the significant need for education, as travelers often lack awareness of potential health hazards and fail to take essential precautions, such as getting vaccinated or seeking medical advice prior to their travels.…”

Attitudes on vaccination among Portuguese travelers and Brazilian migrans: A pilot study in Portugal

“…The number of people traveling internationally has continued to grow substantially in the past decade [2]. Vaccines are one of the most cost effective and successful approaches to protecting individuals from a wide range of diseases, and have resulted in the prevention ofhundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of hospitalizations in the United States and worldwide [1].…”

“…Recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and mumps in the United States have been traced to contact with persons who had traveled to locations where vaccination was more prevalent. In addition, travel and migration have contributed to the recent introduction or reintroduction of vector-borne diseases in places that had previously been free from these diseases [2].…”