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A rabies lesson improves rabies knowledge amongst primary school children in Zomba, Malawi
- Source :
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Rabies is an important neglected disease, which kills around 59,000 people a year. Over a third of these deaths are in children less than 15 years of age. Almost all human rabies deaths in Africa and Asia are due to bites from infected dogs. Despite the high efficacy of current rabies vaccines, awareness about rabies preventive healthcare is often low in endemic areas. It is therefore common for educational initiatives to be conducted in conjunction with other rabies control activities such as mass dog vaccination, however there are few examples where the efficacy of education activities has been assessed. Here, primary school children in Zomba, Malawi, were given a lesson on rabies biology and preventive healthcare. Subsequently, a mass dog vaccination programme was delivered in the same region. Knowledge and attitudes towards rabies were assessed by a questionnaire before the lesson, immediately after the lesson and 9 weeks later to assess the impact the lesson had on school children’s knowledge and attitudes. This assessment was also undertaken in children who were exposed to the mass dog vaccination programme but did not receive the lesson. Knowledge of rabies and how to be safe around dogs increased following the lesson (both p<br />Author summary Rabies is a fatal disease that claims the lives of approximately 59,000 people every year. Children under the age of 15 make up 40% of all human rabies deaths yet this is preventable through a combination of vaccinating dogs against rabies and education. Numerous studies have shown that people in rabies endemic areas lack sufficient knowledge about rabies, and there are many misconceptions about its treatment and prevention. Whilst many organisations run vaccination and education campaigns, few have assessed their impact on rabies knowledge, attitudes or practices (KAP). Fewer still have assessed the impact on children. This study investigated the impact of a rabies lesson on school children’s knowledge and attitudes about rabies in conjunction with a rabies vaccination campaign in Zomba, Malawi. We found that a rabies lesson improved school children’s knowledge about rabies and how to be safe around dogs. We observed that knowledge remained higher several weeks later. Knowledge about both canine rabies and bite prevention was greater amongst school children who had received the lesson compared to school children who had not received the lesson, but had been exposed to a rabies vaccination campaign in their community. This indicates that the lesson itself was critical in improving knowledge.
- Subjects :
- Male
Questionnaires
RNA viruses
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Malawi
Viral Diseases
Social Sciences
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Geographical Locations
Families
Sociology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Zoonoses
Medicine and Health Sciences
Public and Occupational Health
Dog Diseases
Child
Children
Mammals
Schools
Eukaryota
Vaccination and Immunization
Infectious Diseases
Research Design
Medical Microbiology
Viral Pathogens
Vertebrates
Viruses
Female
Pathogens
Research Article
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Rabies
education
Immunology
Research and Analysis Methods
Mass Vaccination
Microbiology
Education
Rabies Virus
Dogs
Animals
Humans
Microbial Pathogens
Survey Research
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Tropical Diseases
Cross-Sectional Studies
Rabies Vaccines
Age Groups
Amniotes
People and Places
Africa
Population Groupings
Lyssavirus
Preventive Medicine
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19352735
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS neglected tropical diseases
- Accession number :
- edsair.pmid..........b15f1d989c9912bd39c7285ca76e4d76