An analysis of community perceptions of mosquito-borne disease control and prevention in Sint Eustatius, Caribbean Netherlands

Abstract

Background: In the Caribbean, mosquito-borne diseases are a public health threat. In Sint Eustatius, dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are now endemic. To control and prevent mosquito-borne diseases, the Sint Eustatius Public Health Department relies on the community to assist with the control of Aedes aegypti mosquito. Unfortunately, community based interventions are not always simple, as community perceptions and responses shape actions and influence behavioural responses Objective: The aim of this study was to determine how the Sint Eustatius population perceives the Aedes aegypti mosquito, mosquito-borne diseases and prevention and control measures and hypothesized that increased knowledge of the virus, vector, control and prevention should result in a lower AQ1 prevalence and incidence of mosquito-borne diseases. Methods: This study was conducted in Sint Eustatius island in the Eastern Caribbean. We combined qualitative and quantitative designs. We conducted interviews and focus groups discussions among community member and health professional in 2013 and 2015. We also conducted cross-sectional survey to assess local knowledge on the vector, virus, and control and prevention. Results: The population is knowledgeable; ©however, mosquito-borne diseases are not the highest health priority. While local knowledge is sometimes put into action, it happens on the 20 household/individual level as opposed to the community level. After the 2014 CHIK outbreak, there was an increase in knowledge about mosquito control and mosquito-borne diseases. Discussion: In the context of Sint Eustatius, when controlling the Aedes population it may be a strategic option to focus on the household level rather than the community and build collaborations with households by supporting them when they actively practice mosquito 25 control. To further increase the level of knowledge on the significance of mosquito-borne diseases, it may also be an option to contextualize the issue of the virus, vector, prevention and control into a broader context. Conclusion: As evidenced by the increasing number of mosquito-borne diseases on the island, it appears that knowledge amongst the lay community may not be transferred into 30 action. This may be attributed to the perception of the Sint Eustatius populations that mosquitoes and the viruses they carry are not a high priority in comparison to other health concerns.

Understanding the role of disease knowledge and risk perception in shaping preventive behavior for selected vector-borne diseases in Guyana

“…Keeping in mind that these contexts are different from Guyana, the results of such studiesamong others (i.e. mixed method and qualitative studies)-are inconclusive regarding the association between knowledge and behavior: some find a positive association [10][11][12][13][14][15], whereas other find a negative [16] or no association [17][18][19][20][21][22]. This diversity in the findings suggests that the results are context specific and cannot be generalized across different areas/regions and diseases.…”

Community knowledge, attitude and practices on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne viral diseases in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…This observation was in contrast with good level of general knowledge about environmental preventive measures noted among the majority of respondents and what they con rmed as their usual practices towards control and prevention of mosquitoes. This con rms that often people don't understand properly the meaning of the concept of environmental management [13].…”

“…This could be the reason that the majority of study participants would resort less to control measures that expenditures incurring. Once the health risk is perceived as real threat and priority, population can run to transfer their knowledge into action [13]. But embracing of protective behaviours is a multi-factorial procedure in uenced by socio-economic and cognitive factors [56].…”

“…There is limited information on community knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) on MBVD in Sub-Saharan Africa [7]. Studies outside Africa have shown that KAP on MBVD vary widely across populations and countries [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Inadequate knowledge is a signi cant barrier for appropriately empowering local communities and individual interventions against MBVD.…”

“…Generally, population are often discussing mosquitoes in a global way and do not differentiate between mosquito species. Such conceptualization could pose an obstacle in adoption of speci c prevention or control measures towards some speci c mosquito species and MBVDs [13]. Contrary to Anopheles, main vector of malaria and O'nyong n'yong virus (ONNV) which present nocturnal activities; Aedes aegypti, the main vector of Yellow Fever virus (YFV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) present a diurnal activity and preferentially breed in domestic containers and bite in peridomestic locations.…”