Knowledge, Awareness and Practices on Preventive Methods against Mosquito Bite among Households in an Urban Slum Area of South India

Aim: The present community-based study was conducted to assess the knowledge, awareness and practices of mosquito bite prevention methods amongst households in an urban slum area of South India.

Introduction: For the effective control of the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, efforts have been consistently made to educate the community on the danger of mosquito bites. When it comes to communicable diseases, mosquito-borne illnesses rank highly among India's public health issues. The three most serious ones are dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and malaria. The general community's education about preventing mosquito bites is one of the key elements of the vector-borne disease control program.

Materials and Methods: The present community-based study was conducted in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. All households of Urban Health Training Center, Shrinavasrao Thota which is the urban catchment area of the Department of Community Medicine, Katuri Medical College, Guntur were selected for the study.

Results: 91.50% of the study participants had knowledge about breeding places of mosquitoes. 22.29% of the study population still had myths that garbage was the breeding place for mosquitoes. Only 33.72% of the study population knew that dengue, chikungunya was transmitted by mosquitoes. It was observed that Television was the main source of awareness for the community followed by newspapers, radio, friends and advertisements. It was disappointing to note that doctor or health staff was not mentioned as the source of knowledge which are coming in contact with people in day-to-day life.

Conclusion: The study found that knowledge about the causes of malaria and mosquito breeding places was satisfactory in study subjects, but some myths were still prevalent. People should be made aware that mosquito bite causes other diseases also. Insecticide-treated bed-net is a good weapon to fight against mosquito-borne disease and Strong social or commercial marketing of these products can definitely increase the acceptance.