knowledge, attitude and practice (kap) of dengue fever in the ru-ral area of central india

Background: dengue fever (df) is an emergent disease in india. it is endemic in some parts of country and contributes annual outbreaks of dengue.aims: to study the knowledge regarding dengue and the preventive measures practiced by the rural population attending a hospital.setting: the jawaharlal nehru medical college, sawangi meghe, wardha is the rural medical college located in maharashtra.study design: the study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study concerning knowledge, attitudes, and practices of df prevention among the people in rural hospi-tal of central india.study population: the population in this study was residents of wardha districts, maharashtra state, india, who were living there for at least one year. a 410 adults (aged 18 years and above) were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices about df. results: 43.91 % respondents belonged to the age group of 30 – 44 years, 84.15 % respondents were married and 31.21 % respon-dents were high school certificate (31.21 %). 76.58 % respondent knew that the vector for dengue is a mosquito. whereas 47.8 % respondents knew that human to human spread occurs in dengue and mainly transmitted by mosquito bites. around 60.48 % of them were aware of fever as the presenting symptom. with regards to the knowledge of the preventive measures, respondents were generally aware of mosquito coils/liquid (57.08 %) and spraying (35.12 %). 74.14 % respondents knew about breeding places of mosquitoes. 94.64 % respondents strongly agreed and agreed that dengue is a serious illness. only 17.06 % respondents strongly agreed and agreed that they are at risk of getting dengue whereas 62.92 % was not sure about the risk. common preventive prac-tices that were prevalent in the respondents were use of mosquito coils/liquid (45.12 %); cleaning the house (28.30 %) and mosquito spray (23.42 %). important sources of in-formation about df were from television (59.75 %) followed by friends/relatives (47.80 %).conclusion: the df remains a public health problem in this area and the people need more understanding of the disease. our findings highlight the need for further informa-tion, education and communication programs. preventive strategies are the only means of controlling the df.