Evaluation of the effectiveness of community health education for the prevention and control of retransmission of imported malaria in Zhangjiagang City / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To increase the awareness of malaria prevention and control among people going abroad and returners, so as to prevent the local retransmission of oversea imported malaria. Methods Health education interventions for malaria control were given to people going abroad and returners in communities, and the changes of malaria prevention and control knowledge and medical-seeking behaviors were observed among the target populations. Results There were 367 people going abroad and oversea returners from malaria-endemic areas in Zhangjiagang City from July 2018 to December 2019, and 18 imported malaria cases were found. Following the implementation of community health education, the awareness of malaria prevention and control knowledge increased significantly from 35.09% to 93.08% among the target populations (χ2 = 78.130, P < 0.01), and the proportions of carrying anti-malarial drugs and administration of anti-malarial drugs for emergency treatment increased from 12.14% and 11.46% to 26.79% and 26.79% (χ2 = 8.793 and 9.834, P < 0.05), respectively. In addition, the mean duration from malaria onset to the definitive diagnosis reduced from (5.86 ± 4.45) days to (3.11 ± 1.28) days (U = 64.000, P < 0.05). Conclusion Community health education based on the precision community administration is an effective approach for malaria control in current era.