Community Perception Regarding Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Some Selected Areas of Ganjam District of Odisha State, India.

Abstract

Mosquito-borne diseases are a major public health concern. Because of absence of effective therapy and vaccination to treat and prevent such vector-borne diseases, these initial cases have triggered strong concerns within medical communities, turning a bad dream into reality. To date, reducing the mosquito vector population remains the main strategy to control the transmission of mosquito borne diseases. In this connection, community-based perception recognized as an essential tool for long-term vector control management. In this study, a community perception survey was carried out in six selected study areas of Ganjam district of Odisha. A total of 3257 inhabitants from randomly chosen 600 no. of houses from 06 selected study areas were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire about various mosquito vector-borne diseases. As an outcome, we found that only 36% of people have basic knowledge and idea about vector-borne diseases, out of which only 14% know Anopheles as a causative agent whereas Aedes and Culex were very least concern. Regarding the source of knowledge, electronic media was the principal source of information, while the involvements of health personnel were least mentioned. Results of the current study indicates the necessity to plan health education program to bring important perceptions regarding vector-borne diseases at school and college level because the infrequent source of knowledge is the main cause of an increase in the disease incidence.