Using a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Survey to Supplement Findings of an Outbreak Investigation: Cholera Prevention Measures during the 1991 Epidemic in Peru

Abstract

The cholera prevention campaign successfully educated respondents, but did not cause many to adopt preventive behaviours. Direct interpersonal education by community-based personnel may enhance the likelihood of translating education into changes in health behaviours. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices surveys conducted with case-control studies during an epidemic can be an effective method of refining education/control programmes.

Evaluation of the CDC safe water-storage intervention to improve the microbiological quality of point-of-use drinking water in rural communities in South Africa

“…Village 2 households complied between 90 and 100% and had no complaints about the taste of the sodium hypochlorite in the treated stored water. In general, the levels of compliance in households for both villages were in agreement with other studies (Quick et al, 1999;2002;Reller et al, 2003;Crump et al, 2005).…”

“…Two peri-urban communities in Bolivia using groundwater from uncovered shallow wells (hand-dug wells), covered wells equipped with a hand-pump, and a household tap from neighbouring communities were selected. The results from this intervention indicated that the water of most intervention households had no E. coli bacteria and contained detectable levels of free chlorine residual, while the water from households in the control group had counts of E. coli bacteria in excess of 1 000 cfu•100 mℓ -1 and contained no detectable free chlorine residual levels (Quick et al, 1999). This study further showed that households with the CDC safe water-storage container and sodium hypochlorite solution had fewer episodes of diarrhoea compared to households without the interventions (Quick et al, 1999).…”

“…The aim of this study was to reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal disease (Quick et al, 1999). Two peri-urban communities in Bolivia using groundwater from uncovered shallow wells (hand-dug wells), covered wells equipped with a hand-pump, and a household tap from neighbouring communities were selected.…”

“…In other developing countries, the CDC safe water-storage container intervention with sodium hypochlorite has been carried out in Uzbekistan (Semenza et al, 1998), Pakistan (Luby et al, 2001), Guatamala (Sobel et al, 1998), Bolivia (Quick et al, 1996;Quick et al, 1999;Sobsey et al, 2003) and Bangladesh (Sobsey et al, 2003). All of these studies have shown an improvement in the microbiological quality of the water when the CDC safe water-storage container and a sodium hypochlorite solution was used as a combined intervention strategy (Sobsey, 2002;Sobsey et al, 2003;Clasen et al, 2006).…”

Knowledge of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and Intake of Iodized Salt in Residents of Mekelle Tigray, Ethiopia

“…The implication of these findings is that if health education activities are not stepped-up, this downward trend will continue. Other reasons that have been given for the failure of most developing countries to achieve 90% utilization of iodized salt include political factors and logistical problems in the production and distribution of iodized salt [3,35].…”