Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of 50 Patients with Surgically Treated Cystic Echinococcosis from Basrah Province, Iraq

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is recognised worldwide as a neglected disease of public health concern, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. The objectives of this study were to describe, using a questionnaire survey, the characteristics, attitudes, knowledge, and practices of patients with CE from Basrah Province, Iraq. We interviewed 50 patients, 31 female and 19 male, of whom, 74% originated from rural areas. Approximately half (48%) of the participants reported slaughtering livestock at home for their families' consumption; 78% indicated the presence of a large number of stray dogs roaming freely about their village; 86% reported that they never boiled water prior to drinking it; and 26% reported not washing vegetables prior to eating them. Although a large proportion of the participants (72%) had heard of hydatid disease prior to becoming ill, over half (57%) were not aware how the disease was transmitted from animals to humans. This study highlighted a gap in health education efforts regarding CE in Southern Iraq, with a lack of counselling of patients on how to prevent reinfection. An intensive control programme should be implemented and founded on health education to reduce CE disease in Basrah.

Cystic Echinococcosis: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) among Surgically Operated Cases in Fars Province, Southern Iran

“…Our results are similar to the findings of Abdulhameed et al, a study on surgical cases of CE in Iraq, which reported that 72% of the participants had not heard of CE and 57% did not know the mode of transmission of hydatid cysts, even after surgery for the disease [14].…”

“…In our study, 62.5% of the participants reported slaughtering and butchering at home. Abdulhameed et al reported that around 50% of surgical cases of CE in Iraq performed home slaughtering and butchering [14]. Many studies have 5 Journal of Parasitology Research highlighted the effect of the common practice of slaughtering animals by householders in or near their homes on CE infection [28,29].…”

Intervención educativa en una enfermedad desatendida: hidatidosis/ equinococosis quística en escolares del norte de Chile

“…La tenencia de perros es un factor de riesgo relevante, sobre todo si no son desparasitados regularmente, la costumbre de mantener contacto estrecho con ellos, la presencia de perros callejeros y especialmente la faena animal en los domicilios con la práctica de alimentar perros con vísceras eliminadas. Finalmente, el desconocimiento de la existencia de la enfermedad y escasa educación sanitaria por los equipos de salud, también son considerados como factores de riesgo [9][10][11][12] . La educación y alfabetización en salud son importantes en el control de las enfermedades desatendidas.…”