Malaria Knowledge, Concern, Land Management, and Protection Practices among Land Owners and/or Managers in Lowland versus Highland Ecuador

Abstract

To control malaria effectively, it is essential to understand the current knowledge, beliefs, concerns, land management practices, and mosquito bite protection methods in use by citizens. This study presents a comparative, quantitative, interview-based study of land owners and/or managers (n = 262) in the Ecuadorian lowlands (presently considered malarious) (n = 131) and highlands (potentially malarious in the future) (n = 131). Although respondents had a strong understanding of where the disease occurs in their own country and of the basic relationship among standing water, mosquitoes, and malaria, about half of respondents in potential risk areas denied the current possibility of malaria infection on their own property. As well, about half of respondents with potential anopheline larval habitat did not report its presence, likely due to a highly specific definition of suitable mosquito habitat. Most respondents who are considered at risk of malaria currently use at least one type of mosquito bite prevention, most commonly bed nets.

Community perception about the transmission and utilization of treated bed net in the control of malaria in Oyo state, Nigeria

“…bites of mosquito which has bitten malaria patient though none of them knew the mechanism of its contamination. This is similar to the observations of Mazigo et al 2010 andAhmed et al 2009 in their separate studies in Tanzania and Bangladesh respectively. The interviewers' knowledge about the transmission of malaria is very low particularly among the poor and illiterates in the study area and this may attributable to their low socio-economic status that disengaged them from enjoying some basic infrastructural amenities that can facilitates their better understandings.…”

“…Therefore, Public health enlightment scheme should continue to be designed to bridge up the existing gap of knowledge as found in the study area and be implemented accordingly to ensure sustainable vector control as earlier recommended by Kroeger et al 1996. Generally, the knowledge of the causative agent of malaria is very low in the study areawith more of young accurately identified Plasmodium speciesas the causative agent; this may be due to the level of the education and exposure of the young people. Misconceptions about the cause of malaria are common among the respondents as 2.6% and 3.0% reported germs and sunlight as the causative agent respectively even some in the study area ascribed it to be supernatural and this is in concordance with other similar studies in different location, for instance Mazigo et al 2010 reported that only 6% of his study population could identify Plasmodium species as the causative organism (Aderaw& Gedefaw, 2013, Singh, et al, 2014. This indicated that preventives activities in the study area and most of endemic region emphasized more on mosquitoes than the actual parasites that causes malaria.…”

“…Our study revealed that there is moderate understanding of malaria causes, symptoms, treatment and, preventive measures in the study area as reported by various authors across different endemic region (Ahmed et al 2009;Hlongwana et al 2009;Mazigo, et al, 2010, Njama, et al, 2003. More than ninety six percent of the respondents reported to have heard of malaria through different meanswith vast majority believed that it is leading cause of morbidity and mortality in their communities and this was in agreement with Singh, et al, (2014) in his studies in Aliero Local Government area in Northern Nigeria.…”

“…Investigations on communities' knowledge of the signs and symptoms showed that headache, fever, general body weakness and joint pain were identified as major signs of malaria by large proportion of the our study subjects; and this agrees with the observation reported in other studies across the endemic region (Deressa, et al, 2003, Parajuli & Ghimire, 2004, Chovatiya, et al, 2013, Iwueze et al, 2013. This level of awareness may be due to self-experience of malaria, increased access to mass media and health education by health workersas observed in this study.Inspite profound understanding of symptoms, failure to ascribe anemia and convulsion to malaria could lead to delay in seeking appropriate care from health facilities as suggested by different researchers (Mazigo et. al.…”

“…In spite of theseapproaches, morbidity and mortality due to malaria haveremained unabated in many communities. This was attributed to series of observations among which are indiscreetuse of antimalarial drugs, delayed health seeking, and reliance on the clinical judgment without laboratory confirmation in most of the peripheral health facilities Mazigo et al 2010).…”