Hamid M A
Colonel Dr Md Abdul Hamid, Head of the Department of Community Medicine, Army Medical College Cumilla & ADMS 33 Inf. Division, Cumillla, Cantonment, Bangladesh; E-mail:
Mymensingh Med J. 2023 Oct;32(4):1169-1177.
Dengue ruins a major public health challenge causing death among many people in Bangladesh. The magnitude of dengue-related illness and death has significantly increased over recent years. The study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices related to dengue fever. This cross-sectional type of descriptive study was conducted among a total of 250 respondents who consented to participate in this study. Respondents were included purposively from selected bushy Cumilla Cantonment area also classified as a stable dengue-prone region of Bangladesh from January 2023 to March 2023. The survey was carried out by face-to-face interviews using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The results reveal that 81.2% of respondents were below 40 years of age group, 74.8% of respondents were married and 72.8% of respondents were in the below monthly 35000tk income group. Only 77.0% of respondents had good knowledge scores and 61.0% had positive attitudes and 75.0% had good compliance with practices. Knowledge was not significantly associated with type of residence, marital status, income group and age group (p>0.05 in every aspect). Transmission of dengue about more than two-thirds (84%) reported that the Aedes aegypti was a vector mosquito for dengue transmission and 27(10.8%) were aware of the biting time of the mosquito. Most participants (81.6%) strongly agreed that dengue is a serious illness and less than half (40.8%) reported that it could be prevented with vector control strategies. The majority (98.4%) used mosquito nets as a preventive measure, while over two-thirds (87.6%) reported that they discarded waste, containers and non-used bottles across their yards that hold water. Although the respondents had quite a positive attitude toward preventive measures regarding dengue (61.0%) and a sizeable number (39.0%) did not put proper attitude into practice. Poorly planned urbanization combined with an explosive urban population in the Cumilla Cantonment area has brought the mosquito and the human host into close proximity. The government should launch health education programs on dengue prevention to educate the community members, addressing misconceptions about their preventive measures and how they could eliminate the risk factors related to practices.
登革热成为一项重大的公共卫生挑战，在孟加拉国导致许多人死亡。近年来，与登革热相关的疾病和死亡数量显著增加。本研究旨在评估与登革热相关的知识、态度和实践水平。这项横断面描述性研究共对250名同意参与研究的受访者进行。受访者是从选定的灌木丛生的库米拉兵营地区有目的地选取的，该地区也被归类为孟加拉国一个稳定的登革热高发地区，研究时间为2023年1月至2023年3月。调查通过使用预先测试的半结构化问卷进行面对面访谈。结果显示，81.2%的受访者年龄在40岁以下，74.8%的受访者已婚，72.8%的受访者月收入在35000塔卡以下。只有77.0%的受访者知识得分良好，61.0%的受访者态度积极，75.0%的受访者实践依从性良好。知识与居住类型、婚姻状况、收入群体和年龄组均无显著关联（各方面p>0.05）。关于登革热传播，超过三分之二（84%）的受访者表示埃及伊蚊是登革热传播的媒介蚊子，27人（10.8%）知道这种蚊子的叮咬时间。大多数参与者（81.6%）强烈认为登革热是一种严重疾病，不到一半（40.8%）的受访者表示可以通过病媒控制策略预防登革热。大多数人（98.4%）使用蚊帐作为预防措施，而超过三分之二（87.6%）的受访者表示他们会清理院子里积水的垃圾、容器和未使用的瓶子。尽管受访者对登革热预防措施态度相当积极（61.0%），但仍有相当一部分人（39.0%）没有将正确的态度付诸实践。库米拉兵营地区规划不善的城市化加上激增的城市人口，使蚊子与人类宿主紧密接触。政府应开展登革热预防健康教育项目，教育社区成员，消除他们对预防措施的误解以及如何消除与实践相关的风险因素。
