Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka
Objective: To assess public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive study was done in four selected typhus- prone areas in Southern Sri Lanka. A mixed-method was employed using face-to-face interviews and questionnaire-based surveys among confirmed...
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345942 https://doaj.org/article/60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e 2023-05-15T15:16:26+02:00 Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka Ashani Liyanage Nilmini Chandrasena Nayana Gunathilaka Ruwan Sanjeewa Ranjan Premaratna 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345942 https://doaj.org/article/60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e EN eng Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications http://www.apjtm.org/article.asp?issn=1995-7645;year=2022;volume=15;issue=5;spage=206;epage=212;aulast=Liyanage https://doaj.org/toc/2352-4146 2352-4146 doi:10.4103/1995-7645.345942 https://doaj.org/article/60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, Vol 15, Iss 5, Pp 206-212 (2022) awareness perceptions practices typhus fevers sri lanka Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345942 2022-12-30T23:21:39Z Objective: To assess public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive study was done in four selected typhus- prone areas in Southern Sri Lanka. A mixed-method was employed using face-to-face interviews and questionnaire-based surveys among confirmed cases of typhus and at-risk populations, respectively. Frequencies, percentages, and means were used to characterize socio-demography and evaluate disease awareness. Results: The lay terms for typhus fevers reported in the studied region were “peacock fever”, “tick fever” and “bird fever”. A total of 499 subjects participated [mean±SD, (45±16) years] in the questionnaire-based survey, and 13.6% (n=68) reported past experience of typhus fever, 1.2% (n=6) identified the disease as “typhus” while 58.7% (n=293) and 11.8% (n=59) knew it as ‘peacock fever’ and ‘tick fever’, respectively. The etiological agent was unknown to 95.2% (n=475), but 53.5% ((n=267) were aware that it was vector-borne. Fever (57.3%, n=286), eschar (35.7%, n=178), headache (22.0%, n=267) and myalgia (19.2%, n=96) were identified as key symptoms. Past disease experience was significantly associated with higher awareness of the main disease symptoms (fever: χ2=15.713, P<0.001; headache: χ2=19.447, P<0.001; lymphadenopathy: Fisher’s exact test, P=0.023; eschar: χ2=12.049, P<0.001). None knew of any disease prevention methods. Participants with a past history of typhus fever had sought treatment at state hospitals (55.9%, 38/68) and private sector hospitals (5.9%, 4/68). Conclusions: Public awareness on preventive practices for typhus fevers was rare among the participants though vector-borne aspect was known to many. Clinical disease awareness was deficient among those without past experience of typhus fever. Community sensitization on vector avoidance strategies is highly recommended. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Peacock ENVELOPE(169.450,169.450,-72.217,-72.217) Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 15 5 206 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
awareness perceptions practices typhus fevers sri lanka Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
awareness perceptions practices typhus fevers sri lanka Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Ashani Liyanage Nilmini Chandrasena Nayana Gunathilaka Ruwan Sanjeewa Ranjan Premaratna Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
topic_facet |
awareness perceptions practices typhus fevers sri lanka Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Objective: To assess public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive study was done in four selected typhus- prone areas in Southern Sri Lanka. A mixed-method was employed using face-to-face interviews and questionnaire-based surveys among confirmed cases of typhus and at-risk populations, respectively. Frequencies, percentages, and means were used to characterize socio-demography and evaluate disease awareness. Results: The lay terms for typhus fevers reported in the studied region were “peacock fever”, “tick fever” and “bird fever”. A total of 499 subjects participated [mean±SD, (45±16) years] in the questionnaire-based survey, and 13.6% (n=68) reported past experience of typhus fever, 1.2% (n=6) identified the disease as “typhus” while 58.7% (n=293) and 11.8% (n=59) knew it as ‘peacock fever’ and ‘tick fever’, respectively. The etiological agent was unknown to 95.2% (n=475), but 53.5% ((n=267) were aware that it was vector-borne. Fever (57.3%, n=286), eschar (35.7%, n=178), headache (22.0%, n=267) and myalgia (19.2%, n=96) were identified as key symptoms. Past disease experience was significantly associated with higher awareness of the main disease symptoms (fever: χ2=15.713, P<0.001; headache: χ2=19.447, P<0.001; lymphadenopathy: Fisher’s exact test, P=0.023; eschar: χ2=12.049, P<0.001). None knew of any disease prevention methods. Participants with a past history of typhus fever had sought treatment at state hospitals (55.9%, 38/68) and private sector hospitals (5.9%, 4/68). Conclusions: Public awareness on preventive practices for typhus fevers was rare among the participants though vector-borne aspect was known to many. Clinical disease awareness was deficient among those without past experience of typhus fever. Community sensitization on vector avoidance strategies is highly recommended. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ashani Liyanage Nilmini Chandrasena Nayana Gunathilaka Ruwan Sanjeewa Ranjan Premaratna |
author_facet |
Ashani Liyanage Nilmini Chandrasena Nayana Gunathilaka Ruwan Sanjeewa Ranjan Premaratna |
author_sort |
Ashani Liyanage |
title |
Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
title_short |
Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
title_full |
Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
title_fullStr |
Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
title_full_unstemmed |
Public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in Southern Sri Lanka |
title_sort |
public knowledge, practices and perceptions on typhus fevers in southern sri lanka |
publisher |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345942 https://doaj.org/article/60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(169.450,169.450,-72.217,-72.217) |
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Arctic Peacock |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Peacock |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, Vol 15, Iss 5, Pp 206-212 (2022) |
op_relation |
http://www.apjtm.org/article.asp?issn=1995-7645;year=2022;volume=15;issue=5;spage=206;epage=212;aulast=Liyanage https://doaj.org/toc/2352-4146 2352-4146 doi:10.4103/1995-7645.345942 https://doaj.org/article/60fbb2eb9dff430abf94f0b483428a0e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345942 |
container_title |
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
206 |
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1766346735920087040 |