Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Vector-Borne Disease Prevention during the Emergence of a New Arbovirus: Implications for the Control of Chikungunya Virus in French Guiana

Abstract

BackgroundDuring the last decade, French Guiana has been affected by major dengue fever outbreaks. Although this arbovirus has been a focus of many awareness campaigns, very little information is available about beliefs, attitudes and behaviors regarding vector-borne diseases among the population of French Guiana. During the first outbreak of the chikungunya virus, a quantitative survey was conducted among high school students to study experiences, practices and perceptions related to mosquito-borne diseases and to identify socio-demographic, cognitive and environmental factors that could be associated with the engagement in protective behaviors.Methodology/Principal FindingsA cross-sectional survey was administered in May 2014, with a total of 1462 students interviewed. Classrooms were randomly selected using a two-stage selection procedure with cluster samples. A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) associated with a hierarchical cluster analysis and with an ordinal logistic regression was performed. Chikungunya was less understood and perceived as a more dreadful disease than dengue fever. The analysis identified three groups of individual protection levels against mosquito-borne diseases: “low” (30%), “moderate” (42%) and “high” (28%)”. Protective health behaviors were found to be performed more frequently among students who were female, had a parent with a higher educational status, lived in an individual house, and had a better understanding of the disease.Conclusions/SignificanceThis study allowed us to estimate the level of protective practices against vector-borne diseases among students after the emergence of a new arbovirus. These results revealed that the adoption of protective behaviors is a multi-factorial process that depends on both sociocultural and cognitive factors. These findings may help public health authorities to strengthen communication and outreach strategies, thereby increasing the adoption of protective health behaviors, particularly in high-risk populations.

Epidemic outbreak of Chikungunya in two neighboring towns in the Colombian Caribbean: a survival analysis

“…Socioeconomic factors and preventive measures are determinant in the rate of installation and spread of infectious diseases [26]. When the causal agent, vector and climatic conditions are similar between neighbouring communities, the differences in the evolution of the epidemic process can only be explained by their different socioeconomic conditions and their preventive measures.…”

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.…”

“…This diversity in the findings suggests that the results are context specific and cannot be generalized across different areas/regions and diseases. The most similar context in which a KAP study has been conducted was in French Guyana, and it shows that an increased understanding of transmission led to better dengue prevention practices [11]. Moreover, while KAP studies do not shed light on the association between risk perception and behavior, other quantitative studies generally report a lack of association between the two.…”

An investigation into the knowledge, perceptions and role of personal protective technologies in Zika prevention in Colombia

“…However, achieving meaningful uptake of repellents and pyrethroid-impregnated clothing is likely to be a challenge even in the presence of enhanced messaging and education. A variety of social factors have been correlated with improved vector borne disease protection knowledge and practices and include high educational status, living in a stand-alone house and having a more advanced knowledge of a disease [46]. Participants identified community health workers as being particularly trusted sources of information, suggesting that teams comprising trained community members could provide educational sessions to pregnant women in future outbreaks.…”