COMMUNITY PERCEPTION REGARDING DENGUE EPIDEMIC IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and
practice of people regarding dengue fever in Samanabad Town, Lahore. Purposive random sampling
was done to collect data from 560 respondents. Majority (90.5%) of the respondents had a fair
knowledge about the vector. According to 41.4%, high grade fever was the most common and obvious
symptoms, 97.1% knew that the fever was transmitted by mosquito from one individual to other and
72.5% considered pots and containers filled with water as the major breeding sites for the dengue
mosquito. Only 34.5% perceived that Aedes mosquito bites mostly during evening and 47.5% believed
that this fever is not contagious in nature. Community was well aware of fever as 228 (40.7%) of the
respondents were relying on the insecticidal sprays to prevent mosquito bites and 340 (60.7%) reported
TV/radio as the major source of knowledge about dengue.