Abstract
ObjectiveTo determine the knowledge of dengue among school students exposed to various awareness campaigns in model schools of Islamabad.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of students who were studying in Islamabad Model School for Girls F-7/2 and Islamabad Model College for Boys F-7/3 from September 2017 to October 2017. Students in the ninth and tenth grades who were willing to participate in the study and who were studying in the school for more than six months were included in the study. The data was collected through a self-constructed questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the questionnaire, and it was found to be 0.83. The data obtained was analyzed on IBM's statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21 (IBM, Armonk, NY).ResultsOut of 601 participants, 345 (57.4%) were males and 256 (42.6%) were females. The mean age of the participants was 14.72±1.09. About 380 participants (63.2%) were studying in the ninth grade and 221 participants (36.8%) were studying in the tenth grade. A majority of the participants (67.2%) had poor knowledge of dengue. The participants scored highest in knowledge of prevention of the dengue domain and scored the lowest in knowledge of transmission of dengue. A majority of the participants (72.9%) reported that they acquire knowledge about dengue fever through television and radio. About 44.60% of the participants reported that they acquired knowledge about dengue fever through awareness campaigns in school.ConclusionsThe knowledge of the students was found to be insufficient despite several awareness campaigns. There is a need to re-evaluate the structure of the awareness campaigns as they fail to reach their target. Electronic media was identified as the most useful source of knowledge, and its incorporation can help increase the effectiveness of awareness campaigns.
Highlights
Dengue is one of the diseases prevalent in the urban and semi-urban areas of Pakistan
About 44.60% of the participants reported that they acquired knowledge about dengue fever through awareness campaigns in school
The knowledge of the students was found to be insufficient despite several awareness campaigns
Summary
Dengue is one of the diseases prevalent in the urban and semi-urban areas of Pakistan. According to World Health Organization (WHO), approximately half of the world's population is at risk of developing dengue. Around 390 million people develop dengue infections every year [1], and approximately 96 million people manifest with clinical symptoms of the infection. Another study done in 128 countries estimated that around 3.9 billion people got infected with dengue every year [2]. The number of cases has increased from 2.2 million in 2010 to 3.2 million in 2015. Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries. South-East Asia, America, and the Western Pacific regions are the most extremely affected regions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
