Variation in Community Perception on Mosquito-Borne Diseases between Urban and Rural Communities ...

The goal of this study is to learn about the differences in community perceptions about mosquito-borne diseases in Gombe State's urban (Gombe) and rural (Filiya) areas.

Study Design: Each of the two communities was divided into longitudinal zones, and 150 residences were chosen at random from the zones in each community to administer questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.

The research was carried out in the communities of Gombe and Filiya in Gombe state between April and June 2018.

Methodology: Quantitative data were collected utilizing open-ended questionnaire covering 300 respondents.

Results: In Gombe (urban community) 98% of respondents had knowledge about mosquitos’ existence unlike Filiya (rural community) with 74%. Concerning mosquito-borne diseases, up to 92% of urban dwellers are aware of one or more mosquito-borne diseases compared to the rural respondent with 46% awareness. 68% of the urban respondents agreed that the frequent breeding places for mosquitoes are drains and polluted waters. On the other hand, 28% of the respondents from the rural community shared this view about the frequent breeding sites of the mosquitoes with the urban dwellers. More so, up to 34% of the rural respondent does not know mosquito breeding sites. Majority of the respondent in the urban areas relied on Nets for protection against mosquito bites while the rural respondent majorly uses coils. Only 36% of respondents in urban community source their treatment from Government health facility against 12% in the rural community. Half of the respondent in the rural community sought treatment from one source or the other.

Conclusion: The popular Mosquito-Borne disease is malaria. Most people have a fair knowledge about malaria prevention and control and see malaria as a threat to their lives and community but the majority had poor practices towards malaria prevention and control. The government should intensify the campaign against malaria.

Please see the link :- https://www.journalajob.com/index.php/AJOB/article/view/30114