Public Perceptions on Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for West Nile Virus Infections: A Survey from an Endemic Area in Northern Italy

Abstract

During the last decade, cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) have occurred in the Emilia Romagna Region (ERR). Even though the notification rates remain relatively low, ranging from 0.06 to 1.83 cases/100,000 inhabitants, the persistent pathogen’s circulation in settings characterized by favorable environmental characteristics suggests that WNV is becoming endemic to the Po River Valley. This study assesses knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward WNV prevention among residents from 10 high-risk municipalities from the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (total population: 82,317 inhabitants, census 2020). A web-based survey, based on the health belief model, was performed during the month of January 2021, with a convenience sampling of 469 participants from a series of closed discussion groups on social media (i.e., 2.1% of the potential responders). A total of 243 participants knew the meaning of WNV: Of them, 61.3% were aware of previous WNV infections in ERR, 76.5% acknowledged WNV infection as a severe one, but only 31.3% expressed any worry about WNV. Our results irregularly report preventive practices, either collective (e.g., draining standing water from items and the environment, 50.7%; spraying pesticides around the home, 33.0%) or individual (e.g., use of skin repellants when going outdoors, 42.6%). In a multivariate analysis, performed through binary logistic regression, participants reporting any worry towards WNV were more likely to characterize WNV as a severe disease (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 20.288, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.083–80.972). On the contrary, respondents supporting community mosquito control programs were more likely among people working with animals/livestock (aOR = 13.948, 95%CI = 2.793–69.653), and supporting tax exemptions for mosquito control programs (aOR = 4.069, 95%CI 2.098–7.893). In conclusion, our results suggest that future interventions promoting WNV prevention among residents in ERR should focus on perceptions of vulnerability to WNV, emphasizing the benefits of personal protective behaviors.

Mandate or Not Mandate: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Italian Occupational Physicians towards SARS-CoV-2 Immunization at the Beginning of Vaccination Campaign

“…Third, it is reasonable that some of the items assessed through the knowledge test may be affected by a significant social desirability bias, with participants not only reporting “common sense” answers, as previously discussed, but also those answers that may have been perceived as more “appropriate” to fit with the aim of the questionnaire. As such, potential bias was repeatedly identified in previous KAP studies, particularly among OPs [ 12 , 13 , 32 , 34 , 77 ], we cannot rule out that our results could have ultimately overstated the share of individuals i) having effective understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infections (and associated issues), and ii) actually acknowledging the vaccination mandate. In fact, this social desirability bias is indirectly suggested by some items on the knowledge test, particularly by the large share of respondents (around 44.0%) acknowledging adenovirus-based formulates as licensed by the EMA at the time of the survey, while the emergency authorization was still to come.…”

“…Despite this study’s novelty and its potential significance, it has several limits. Firstly, being an internet-based survey, it has implicit limits [ 77 , 78 , 79 ]. Conventional internet-based surveys—although reliable, cost-effective, and fast—are affected by an extensive “self-selection” of participants.…”

Dengue Fever in Italy: The “Eternal Return” of an Emerging Arboviral Disease

“…As a specific surveillance program has been implemented in Italy since 2012, our aim is to collect available evidence on the temporal and spatial patterns of dengue infections in Italy between 2010 and 2021, reporting appropriate insights from a country that has recently represented an example of extensive endemization of other arboviruses, such as West Nile Virus [25][26][27][28]. Furthermore, we will perform a comprehensive analysis on the possible influence of factors potentially involved in the epidemiology of dengue, focusing on sociodemographic factors (e.g., population, international travel, and number of incident cases in the nearby areas and in the rest of EU).…”

Emerging Trends in the West Nile Virus Epidemiology in Croatia in the ‘One Health’ Context, 2011–2020

“…During the same period, annual incidence rates in Greece varied from 0/100,000 population in 2015 and 2016 to 2.2/100,000 population in 2018 [36]. In addition, notification rates in Italy were from 0.06 to 1.83 cases/100,000 inhabitants [37]. Like in Italy and Greece, the incidence rates remained relatively low; however, the persistent WNV circulation suggests that WNV is becoming endemic in Croatia [34,36,37].…”

“…In addition, notification rates in Italy were from 0.06 to 1.83 cases/100,000 inhabitants [37]. Like in Italy and Greece, the incidence rates remained relatively low; however, the persistent WNV circulation suggests that WNV is becoming endemic in Croatia [34,36,37].…”