Knowledge and Awareness regarding Dengue Fever among the Adult Population in a Sub-urban area near Dhaka City

Abstract

Background: Dengue Fever (DF) is a preventable vector-borne viral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquito. It is a major public health problem in Bangladesh, especially in the urban and suburban regions. Since the first-detected epidemic of dengue in Bangladesh in 2000, around 49,000 people suffered from the disease. Most of the patients were from Dhaka or its neighboring districts.

Objective: The study was carried out with the objective to assess the level of knowledge and awareness regarding DF among adult people of a selected sub-urban community.

Methodology: The study was cross-sectional descriptive in nature. It was carried out at Keraniganj Upazilla, Dhaka. Data were collected by face-to-face interview with a semi-structured questionnaire. A total 540 adult persons were included in the study.

Results: Total 9 questions were asked to assess the knowledge of DF. It was found that 425 (78.7%) of the respondents did not know about the causative agent, but 428 (79.3%) of the respondents knew that mosquito or Aedes mosquito is the vector of the disease. Some 287 (53.1%) of the respondents did not know about the biting time of the mosquito, but 318 (58.9%) of the respondents correctly knew about the breeding places of Aedes mosquito. Again, some 288 (53.3%) of the respondents did not know about the clinical features of dengue and 314 (58.1%) of them knew about preventive measures of DF. It was revealed that 186 (34.4%) respondents had poor knowledge about dengue who answered 0 to 3 questions correctly, 262 (48.6%) respondents had some knowledge answering 4 to 6 questions correctly and only 92 (17%) respondents had good knowledge about dengue and answered 7 to 9 questions correctly out of total 9 questions.

Conclusion: The findings of the study indicate that knowledge regarding DF is very poor among the community people. Therefore, awareness building strategy directed towards bringing up a significant change in the knowledge among the people is essential.

J Monno Med Coll June 2022;8(1): 13-16