West Nile Virus: the buzz on Ottawa residents' awareness, attitudes and practices.
BACKGROUND
In 2002, the City of Ottawa was interested in the public perception of West Nile Virus (WNV) and mosquito control. Their objectives were to assess: awareness of WNV, practices to reduce mosquito sources, personal protective measures, and attitudes towards community-based insecticide programs.


METHODS
In July 2002, we administered a telephone survey to a random, stratified sample of urban, suburban and rural Ottawa households.


RESULTS
Surveys were completed for 491 households. Most (77.2%) respondents reported they had heard of WNV, and of these, 58.3% reported WNV was an important health issue. Mosquito repellent was the most common personal protective measure, reported among 72.5% of respondents, of whom 76.9% used DEET products. Multivariate regression analyses showed that age was a significant predictor of repellent use, with respondents aged less than 51 years more likely to use repellent than older respondents (ORadj =2.0; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3). This age group was also more likely to use at least one personal protective behaviour (ORadj = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.4-4.5). Of 315 people selecting a justified time to larvicide, 4.8% chose "larvicides should never be used in Ottawa"; 33.4% stated that larviciding would be appropriate "when WNV was detected in birds or mosquitoes"; one third "needed more information" on the health and environmental effects of insecticides, prior to selecting a response.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings highlight the need for public education reinforcing WNV importance, emphasizing the health and environmental effects of insecticides as well as appropriate personal protective behaviours. Such messages should target older and urban residents.
Wilson
Samantha D
SD
Canadian Field Epidemiology Program, Public Health Agency of Canada. swilson-clark@county.oxford.on.ca
Varia
Monali
M
Lior
Lee Y
LY
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001364:Awareness; D003671:DEET / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007302:Insect Repellents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009032:Mosquito Control; D009864:Ontario; D011481:Protective Clothing; D012424:Rural Population; D013383:Suburban Population; D014505:Urban Population; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology
D007302:Insect Repellents; D003671:DEET