Abstract
Leptospirosis is a serious and potentially fatal zoonotic disease, but often neglected owing to lack of awareness. This study examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning leptospirosis among agricultural (n = 152) and non-agricultural (n = 115) workers in the lakeshore communities of Calamba and Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The findings showed no significant differences for the knowledge and attitude scores between agricultural and non-agricultural workers. However, agricultural workers had significantly lower prevention practice scores than non-agricultural workers. The ordinary least squares regression model identified gender, use of broadcast media as a source of health information, and knowledge and attitudes about leptospirosis as significant predictors of prevention practices common to both workers. Higher educational attainment was significantly associated with prevention practices among agricultural workers, while higher age and income level were significantly associated with prevention practices among non-agricultural workers. Public health interventions to improve leptospirosis knowledge and prevention practices should include health education and promotion programs, along with the strengthening of occupational health and safety programs in the agricultural sector.
Highlights
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira bacteria that are excreted in the urine of infected animals, such as rodents, livestock, and domestic pets [1,2]
For Model 2, the higher leptospirosis prevention practice score among non-agricultural workers was significantly associated with female respondents, older age, higher household income, use of broadcast media as a source of health information, and higher knowledge and attitude scores
This study found that leptospirosis prevention practice scores increased significantly with increasing age and household income among non-agricultural workers
Summary
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira bacteria that are excreted in the urine of infected animals, such as rodents, livestock, and domestic pets [1,2]. It can be acquired by direct contact with an infected animal or by indirect contact with an environment contaminated with the urine of infected animals [3]. Leptospirosis is reported as an occupational disease among agricultural and animal workers [6,7,8]. One epidemiological report estimated that an average of 680 cases and
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