The impact of health education on mother's knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of dengue haemorrhagic fever.

A mother’s knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study before and after health education of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) was carried out in four communes in Southern Viet Nam. The study showed that health education had made a strong impact on the mothers’ KAP of DHF. The KAP of mothers (how to recognize the child with DHF, how to take care of the child at home, and how to prevent the disease) were improved significantly after health education. This effective programme of health education on DHF can be implemented in other communities as part of the national programme for dengue control.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever in infants: research opportunities ignored.

The age distribution of cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) in infants under the age of 1 year are reported from Bangkok, Thailand, and for the first time for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Yangon, Myanmar; and Surabaya, Indonesia. The four dengue viruses were isolated from Thai infants, all of whom were having a primary dengue infection. Progress studying the immunologically distinct infant DHF/DSS has been limited; most contemporary research has centered on DHF/DSS accompanying secondary dengue infections. In designing research results obtained in studies on a congruent animal model, feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) infections of kittens born to FIPV-immune queens should be considered. Research challenges presented by infant DHF/DSS are discussed.