The Community Knowledge and Practices Regarding Dengue Fever in an Urban Slum Area of South India.

ABSTRACT

Dengue/Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is an emergent disease in India. The present study was carried out with the aim of assessing knowledge regarding Dengue fever among community in an urban slum area of Andhra Pradesh. This cross sectional study was undertaken in an urban slum area of Uuban Health Centre, Guntur, which is a field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, Katuri Medical College and Hospital,Guntur. Out of 370 respondents, 291(78.65%) knew that dengue fever is transmitted by mosquito.Only 38(10.27%) persons could enumerate 3 symptoms of Dengue (fever, headache and bleeding). Regarding knowledge about breeding places only 276 (74.59%) respondents knew about breeding places of mosquitoes. Regarding the source of information on Dengue fever, 191 (51.62%) came to know about Dengue fever through television. Despite good awareness about dengue fever, adoption of the mosquito control methods was poor in the area.