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Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Survey in Greece before the Implementation of Sterile Insect Technique against Aedes albopictus

Authors :
Angeliki Stefopoulou
Shannon L. LaDeau
Nefeli Syrigou
George Balatsos
Vasileios Karras
Ioanna Lytra
Evangelia Boukouvala
Dimitrios P. Papachristos
Panagiotis G. Milonas
Apostolos Kapranas
Petros Vahamidis
Antonios Michaelakis
Source :
Insects, Vol 12, Iss 3, p 212 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

Abstract

Community involvement in Aedes albopictus management can be very efficient and result in raising awareness among citizens. Toward this end, a door-to-door campaign can encourage active community participation in vector control. The current study describes the results of an intervention where a KAP (knowledge, attitude, practices) survey tool was paired with a door-to-door campaign and was implemented as an intervention method in Vravrona area (Attica, Greece) before the release of sterile males (sterile insect technique, SIT) against Aedes albopictus. The KAP tool was used to shed light on the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of local community members in order to better prepare and motivate participation in household mosquito control and to assess current understanding of SIT. Each household also received specific information about mosquito source habitat in their own yards at the time of the initial KAP survey. These household data were complemented by standardized mosquito trapping in the municipality. Our findings indicate that citizens’ attitude toward SIT ranged from indecisive to fully supportive, while 77.5% of the respondents agreed that the SIT has many advantages over chemical control methods. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that using the door-to-door campaign as an intervention and prerelease method before SIT can suppress the initial mosquito population and potentially improve its efficacy. Lastly, we show that the presence of local municipality officials during door-to-door visits was associated with increased willingness from the residents to participate in the intervention.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20754450
Volume :
12
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Insects
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.bc10e2e195904c88b33d840d83f4a325
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12030212