1. Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to schistosomiasis transmission and control in Leyte, Philippines
- Author
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Jennifer A. Steele, Marieke Rosenbaum, Mario Jiz, Palmera Baltazar, and Isabel Francisco
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,Rural Population ,Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ,Cross-sectional study ,Philippines ,RC955-962 ,Snails ,Social Sciences ,Disease ,Schistosoma japonicum ,Geographical Locations ,0302 clinical medicine ,Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Epidemiology ,Medicine and Health Sciences ,Medicine ,Schistosomiasis ,Psychology ,Public and Occupational Health ,2. Zero hunger ,1. No poverty ,Eukaryota ,Middle Aged ,Vaccination and Immunization ,3. Good health ,Infectious Diseases ,Veterinary Diseases ,Helminth Infections ,Female ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,Research Article ,Neglected Tropical Diseases ,Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Asia ,Infectious Disease Control ,030231 tropical medicine ,Immunology ,Context (language use) ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,Environmental health ,Parasitic Diseases ,Animals ,Humans ,Preventive healthcare ,Aged ,Behavior ,Poverty ,business.industry ,Public health ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Organisms ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Molluscs ,medicine.disease ,Tropical Diseases ,Invertebrates ,030104 developmental biology ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Gastropods ,People and Places ,Veterinary Science ,Preventive Medicine ,business - Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a chronic but preventable disease that affects 260 million people worldwide. In the Philippines, 860,000 people are afflicted with Schistosoma japonicum annually, and another 6.7 million live in endemic areas. The disease’s complex epidemiology as well as the influence of poverty in endemic areas demand an integrated, multi-sectoral approach to disease control. Results from behavioral or sociocultural studies on schistosomiasis could improve the content and impact of schistosomiasis control in rural villages in the Philippines. We investigated knowledge, attitudes and practices related to schistosomiasis transmission and control in an endemic village in Leyte Province, Philippines. We administered a questionnaire to 219 participants covering 1) knowledge and attitudes related to schistosomiasis, its symptoms, and its transmission; 2) attitudes and practices in relation to schistosomiasis prevention; 3) willingness to comply with public health control programs; and 4) whether the respondent had previously contracted schistosomiasis. Responses revealed fairly high measures of schistosomiasis knowledge (mean 17.0 out of 23 questions, range 6–23), but also inconsistent disease prevention behavior. A high proportion of participants (72.6%, n = 159) reported previous disease. Participant belief in the preventability of schistosomiasis was revealed to be a key attitude, as carabao owners who believed in prevention were over five times more likely to be willing to vaccinate their carabaos (OR = 5.24, 95% CI 1.20–27.68, P = 0.04). Additionally, participants who did not believe in prevention were about twice as likely to report previous disease (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 1.02–5.63, P = 0.05). Our results suggest that future public health interventions should address barriers to disease-preventing behavior, as well as maintaining community belief in disease prevention. Comprehensive disease control programs should be supplemented by sociocultural and behavioral context in order to improve their impact in endemic communities., Author summary Schistosomiasis is a chronic tropical disease caused by parasitic worms of the genus Schistosoma. In the Philippines, Schistosoma japonicum afflicts over 800,000 people annually, and another 6.7 million live in endemic areas. The current national control program based on human mass treatment has been unable to eliminate schistosomiasis on its own. This is in part due to the poverty of endemic areas as well as the parasite’s complex life cycle, which includes transmission by freshwater snails and livestock. A more comprehensive disease control strategy would include periodic treatment and vaccination of the widely used domestic water buffalo or carabao. Sociocultural and behavioral research would also inform and improve the impact of future control programs. To this end, we investigated knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to schistosomiasis in an endemic village in Leyte, Philippines. We found high levels of disease knowledge and awareness, but also inconsistencies in disease prevention habits. Belief in whether schistosomiasis could be prevented was important in this community, associated with previous disease experience as well as receptivity to new strategies like livestock vaccination. This kind of social context is vital to future public health campaigns, and highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary work to achieve successful disease control. more...
- Published
- 2019