Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin.
BACKGROUND: In areas where health resources are limited, community participation in the recognition and reporting of disease hazards is critical for the identification of outbreaks. This is particularly true for zoonotic diseases such as monkeypox that principally affect people living in remote area...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:972ceb5f77eb4ea5b5d9301a28f074a5 2023-05-15T15:11:41+02:00 Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. Amira A Roess Benjamin P Monroe Eric A Kinzoni Seamus Gallagher Saturnin R Ibata Nkenda Badinga Trolienne M Molouania Fredy S Mabola Jean V Mombouli Darin S Carroll Adam MacNeil Noelle A Benzekri Cynthia Moses Inger K Damon Mary G Reynolds 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 https://doaj.org/article/972ceb5f77eb4ea5b5d9301a28f074a5 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3196471?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 https://doaj.org/article/972ceb5f77eb4ea5b5d9301a28f074a5 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 5, Iss 10, p e1356 (2011) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 2022-12-31T03:13:08Z BACKGROUND: In areas where health resources are limited, community participation in the recognition and reporting of disease hazards is critical for the identification of outbreaks. This is particularly true for zoonotic diseases such as monkeypox that principally affect people living in remote areas with few health services. Here we report the findings of an evaluation measuring the effectiveness of a film-based community outreach program designed to improve the understanding of monkeypox symptoms, transmission and prevention, by residents of the Republic of the Congo (ROC) who are at risk for disease acquisition. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: During 90 days, monkeypox outreach was conducted for ∼23,860 people in northern ROC. Two hundred seventy-one attendees (selected via a structured sample) were interviewed before and after participating in a small-group outreach session. The proportion of interviewees demonstrating monkeypox-specific knowledge before and after was compared. Significant gains were measured in areas of disease recognition, transmission, and mitigation of risk. The ability to recognize at least one disease symptom and a willingness to take a family member with monkeypox to the hospital increased from 49 and 45% to 95 and 87%, respectively (p<0.001, both). Willingness to deter behaviors associated with zoonotic risk, such as eating the carcass of a primate found dead in the forest, remained fundamentally unchanged however, suggesting additional messaging may be needed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that our current program of film-based educational activities is effective in improving disease-specific knowledge and may encourage individuals to seek out the advice of health workers when monkeypox is suspected. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 5 10 e1356 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Amira A Roess Benjamin P Monroe Eric A Kinzoni Seamus Gallagher Saturnin R Ibata Nkenda Badinga Trolienne M Molouania Fredy S Mabola Jean V Mombouli Darin S Carroll Adam MacNeil Noelle A Benzekri Cynthia Moses Inger K Damon Mary G Reynolds Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND: In areas where health resources are limited, community participation in the recognition and reporting of disease hazards is critical for the identification of outbreaks. This is particularly true for zoonotic diseases such as monkeypox that principally affect people living in remote areas with few health services. Here we report the findings of an evaluation measuring the effectiveness of a film-based community outreach program designed to improve the understanding of monkeypox symptoms, transmission and prevention, by residents of the Republic of the Congo (ROC) who are at risk for disease acquisition. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: During 90 days, monkeypox outreach was conducted for ∼23,860 people in northern ROC. Two hundred seventy-one attendees (selected via a structured sample) were interviewed before and after participating in a small-group outreach session. The proportion of interviewees demonstrating monkeypox-specific knowledge before and after was compared. Significant gains were measured in areas of disease recognition, transmission, and mitigation of risk. The ability to recognize at least one disease symptom and a willingness to take a family member with monkeypox to the hospital increased from 49 and 45% to 95 and 87%, respectively (p<0.001, both). Willingness to deter behaviors associated with zoonotic risk, such as eating the carcass of a primate found dead in the forest, remained fundamentally unchanged however, suggesting additional messaging may be needed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that our current program of film-based educational activities is effective in improving disease-specific knowledge and may encourage individuals to seek out the advice of health workers when monkeypox is suspected. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Amira A Roess Benjamin P Monroe Eric A Kinzoni Seamus Gallagher Saturnin R Ibata Nkenda Badinga Trolienne M Molouania Fredy S Mabola Jean V Mombouli Darin S Carroll Adam MacNeil Noelle A Benzekri Cynthia Moses Inger K Damon Mary G Reynolds |
author_facet |
Amira A Roess Benjamin P Monroe Eric A Kinzoni Seamus Gallagher Saturnin R Ibata Nkenda Badinga Trolienne M Molouania Fredy S Mabola Jean V Mombouli Darin S Carroll Adam MacNeil Noelle A Benzekri Cynthia Moses Inger K Damon Mary G Reynolds |
author_sort |
Amira A Roess |
title |
Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
title_short |
Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
title_full |
Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
title_fullStr |
Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the Congo basin. |
title_sort |
assessing the effectiveness of a community intervention for monkeypox prevention in the congo basin. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 https://doaj.org/article/972ceb5f77eb4ea5b5d9301a28f074a5 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 5, Iss 10, p e1356 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3196471?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 https://doaj.org/article/972ceb5f77eb4ea5b5d9301a28f074a5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001356 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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5 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
e1356 |
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