ABSTRACT
Background: The knowledge, attitude and behavior of the public during an infectious outbreak is important for individual protection as well as to control the spread of the disease in community. The knowledge, attitude and practices regarding Swine Flu and the correlation between Knowledge and Practices regarding Swine Flu among the parents/guardians accompanying the children attending the pediatric department of KGMCH, Nagercoil was investigated in this study.Method: This cross sectional study was conducted among the parents/guardians accompanying the children attending the pediatric department of KGMCH after the epidemic situation. After obtaining written informed consent, participants were interviewed personally through predesigned and pre-tested questionnaire to elicit information regarding awareness of Swine Flu. All data were analysed using SPSS 25 software.Results: Of the 200 people included in the study, 117 (58.5%) knew that it was a viral disease. Of all the participants, 97(48.5%) knew about the respiratory mode of transmission. Only 28% knew about the hand washing to prevent transmission. Around 93% participants told fever as major symptoms and 71% told cough as a major symptom.55% of the participants were scared regarding the deadly nature of the disease. Only 12.5% of the participants practiced hand washing as a preventive measure. Correlation between Knowledge and practice was weakly positive (Pearson correlation 0.252).Conclusion: Knowledge regarding swine flu was average among the study population. TV, friends news channels and Health care workers were found to be the most common sources of information. Lack of awareness regarding key focus areas like hand washing as a preventive measure is of serious concern.