Awareness about Malaria Transmission and Its Preventive Measures among Households in an Urban Area Of Mandya, Karnataka

摘要

"Introduction: Community perception, beliefs and attitude about malaria control can influence the national malaria control program implementation. This study was conducted to assess the awareness of malaria transmission and its prevention among urban community dwellers. Materials and methods: This was a cross sectional study involving 280 households selected randomly. A structured interview schedule included demographic characteristics, adult residents' attitudes and understanding of malaria transmission, perceptions of cause, preventive measures and practices. Results: More than half (64 %) of the subjects mentioned that malaria is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes. Only one third (33%) of them could tell that mosquito rests even in dirty and stagnant water. Only 60 % of the total subjects in the study knew one or the other ways of avoiding mosquitoes and 40 percent of the subjects were using it. Conclusion: Our study found low awareness about malaria transmission among the subjects. The overall practice of one or the other preventive measure was also low.