Department of Zoology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan.
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Acta Trop. 2021 Jan;213:105746. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105746. Epub 2020 Nov 6.
Recent outbreaks of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) in Waziristan make the disease a public health concern in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, Pakistan. The awareness and behavior of local community towards the disease is an important factor towards effective control and management of CL in endemic areas of Pakistan. A cross-sectional community based survey was piloted in new emerging district of North Waziristan Agency (KPK province), Pakistan from August 2019- February 2020. The study aimed to examine the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of the local community members regarding CL. The results revealed that majority of the participants were male. Only 48.2% participants have knowledge about CL and the respondents had a moderate knowledge of CL vector and the disease. Few of the respondents were aware that CL is caused by sand flies, their breeding place, biting time, transmission of CL and control measures. Skin infection and sand-flies were the main disease symptoms and disease vector were known to some of the respondents. Most of the respondents showed positive attitude towards disease seriousness and believed that the disease could be cured and can be treated through modern medicines. Admission to hospitals, cleanliness and use of bed nets were the treatment measures for the disease in suspected patients, whereas some believed that the use of bed nets could be helpful in preventing the leishmaniasis. Moderate knowledge of the CL and its transmission in the study area emphasize the need to initiate health education and awareness campaigns to reduce the disease risk and burden in this highly endemic area in near future.
最近在瓦济里斯坦爆发的皮肤利什曼病（CL）引起了人们对巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省（KPK）的关注。当地社区对这种疾病的认识和行为是在巴基斯坦流行地区有效控制和管理 CL 的一个重要因素。2019 年 8 月至 2020 年 2 月，在巴基斯坦北瓦济里斯坦行政区（KPK 省）新出现的地区进行了一项基于社区的横断面调查。该研究旨在调查当地社区成员对 CL 的知识、态度和实践（KAP）。结果表明，大多数参与者是男性。只有 48.2%的参与者了解 CL，而受访者对 CL 病媒和疾病有中等程度的了解。一些受访者知道 CL 是由沙蝇引起的，它们的繁殖地、叮咬时间、CL 的传播和控制措施。皮肤感染和沙蝇是主要的疾病症状，一些受访者知道疾病载体。大多数受访者对疾病的严重性持积极态度，并认为这种疾病可以治愈，可以通过现代药物治疗。在疑似患者中，住院、清洁和使用蚊帐是治疗疾病的措施，而一些人则认为使用蚊帐有助于预防利什曼病。在研究地区，对 CL 及其传播的知识中等程度表明，需要开展健康教育和宣传活动，以减少该高度流行地区的疾病风险和负担。
