Awareness about Mass Drug Administration in one of the Filaria Endemic Districts of North Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) is the world's second leading cause of long-term disability with many serious economic and social consequences affecting many young working adults of both sexes. An estimated 49 million individuals in India are infected with LF of these, over 23 million people suffer from chronic forms of filariasis. The present study was conducted to assess the program effectiveness of the 2-drug strategy in terms of awareness of MDA, source of information of MDA and the adverse effects due to DEC. Objectives: To evaluate the MDA Programme with respect to its awareness, source of information of MDA and the adverse effects due to DEC. Materials and Methods: A Community based Cross-Sectional Study was conducted in Bijapur District. One ur-ban and three rural clusters were selected randomly out of four clusters. All the sampled eligible population who belong to the MDA campaign area were included. Data was collected using pretested proforma, entered in Microsoft Excel 2013 and analysed using free version of OPENEpi software. Results: In the present study out of 713 study population, 67.6% of the population were in the age group of 14-60 years. Male to female ratio was equal. 66.48% of the study population were from rural area and 33.52% were from urban area. 98.39% of them did not experience any side effects. 84% of the study subjects were not aware about MDA. Conclusions: The awareness of MDA was very minimum. Side effects of DEC was also less. Key words: Mass drug administration, Lymphatic Filariasis, DEC