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

Abstract

Introduction: Community perception, beliefs and attitude about malaria control can influence the national malaria control program implementation. This study was conducted to assess the aware- ness 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 sched- ule 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 ma- laria 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.

Keywords

• Malaria
• mosquito bite
• insecticide treated nets