Assessment of the population knowledge on the visceral leishmaniasis

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis is a widespread disease in the world, and due to its high incidence and high mortality, it is of great importance in public health. This study aimed at evaluating the knowledge on visceral leishmaniasis in a group of population in the city of Bauru (SP), through a questionnaire applied in different districts of the city. Of 280 participant persons, 99.3 % stated they had heard about the disease, 77.1 % knew the mode of transmission, 87.1 % recognized the role of dogs as domestic reservoirs, 59.6 % knew on the clinical signs in human, 86.1 % knew the clinical signs in dogs, 59.6 % recognized the preventive measures, 58.6 % understood the need of canine euthanasia and 27.1 % had knowledge on the main day time in which the insect acts. Significant variance in the participants education degrees were shown in relation to some districts and to the educational level, but not regarding to the family income. Overall, the knowledge degree of the evaluated population proved to be good, however, lack of information in some aspects was observed, especially regarding to the period of sandflies activity, emphasizing the need for improving the disclosure of the parasite particulars.