Abstract:
Dengue, an acute febrile illness has become a major public health problem
leading to increase in the disease burden in terms of disability and deaths.
Objectives: To assess and compare the knowledge of dengue among adults in urban and
rural population.
Materials and Methods: Cross Sectional Study was done among urban and rural population
for six months. The study participants were the adult (>18 years) population residing in the
urban and rural areas for more than a year. Information was obtained using questionnaire and
results were analyzed by descriptive statistics.
Results: Of the 200 study participants, majority 144 (72%) were literates and 93 (46.5%)
belonged to low socio-economic status. Majority of the participants (84%) cited mosquito
bite as the commonest mode of spread. When asked about the symptoms, 63.5% told fever
is the commonest and 32% did not know any of the symptoms. When knowledge of
preventive measures against mosquitoes was analyzed, 50% told it can be prevented by using
repellants and 37% told by avoiding water stagnation. When knowledge scores were
assessed, 57 (70.37%) in the urban areas possessed sufficient knowledge on dengue when
compared to 24 (29.63%) in the rural area (Highly Significant p<0.0001).
Conclusion: In spite of dengue being a very common arthropod-borne viral disease, there is
insufficient knowledge in the community. Hence measures should be undertaken to improve
the awareness of dengue through intense health education campaigns.
