Knowledge and Practice Towards Dengue Fever Prevention - Aedes Larvae Indices of Households in Hue City - A Case Control Study

Abstract

Background: Dengue fever (DF) is a life-threatening infectious disease, which was transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, the best preventive strategy is focusing on killing mosquitoes, larvae and preventing mosquito bites, based on the awareness of DF and correctly practicing of DF prevention in the community. A study in Malaysia (2011-2012) showed that lack of knowledge and ineffectiveness in practicing preventive measures could be a risk of DF. This study was commenced to assess the level of knowledge and practice towards DF prevention, besides identifying the Aedes larval indices of households in Hue city and investigate risk factors for the development of DF. Materials and method: We conducted a case-control study with a defined group of 61 DF cases from May 1 to October 31, 2019, the selection of cases and controls in the ratio of 1:2 with the same basic characteristics (age, gender, location); interview and observe based on the structured questionnaire to collect data, data was analysed using SPSS through a few statistical analyses. Results: We found that 39.3% participants in cases and 41.8% participants in controls having good knowledge regarding DF and only 26.2% participants in cases and 33.6% participants in controls having good practices of DF prevention. Aedes larvae indices of cases is higher than that of controls, there were no statistically significant differences in the house index from cases and controls (p>0.05). The risk factor analysis indicated that the job that spend less time at home more at risk of DF than the others (OR=2.79, 95%OR: 1.32-5.87), no use mosquitoes’ essential oil/repellent (OR=2.21, 95%OR: 1.04-4.68), the stable near house (OR=4.86, 95%OR: 1.21-19.51) were independent risk factors for the development of DF. Conclusion: A large number of participants didn’t demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and the right practice towards DF prevention, there were no statistically significant differences in the house index from cases and controls, there was a significant correlation between job, environment, use safeguard measures and a risk of DF. Key words: knowledge, practice, larval indices, dengue fever.