Evidence of rapid changes in Lyme disease awareness in Canada.
Lyme disease (LD) is emerging in Canada. A key preventive strategy is promoting the adoption by the general public of personal preventive behaviors regarding tick bites. The aim of this study was to measure the changes in public awareness toward ticks and LD before and after the launch of a national communication campaign in Canada using data from two surveys conducted in March and December 2014. The results show a significant increase in awareness of LD after compared to before the campaign, but also suggest that the importance of this increase is not equal amongst Canadian regions. Moreover, respondents whose level of awareness increased most significantly were those who lived in regions with low entomologic risk. The findings underline the importance of risk communications for emerging diseases and reinforce the need to understand the specific characteristics of the targeted populations before the implementation of communication campaigns to increase their efficacy.
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, 1140 Pine Avenue, Montreal H3A 1A3, Québec, Canada; Groupe de Recherche en Épidémiologie des Zoonoses et Santé Publique (GREZOSP), Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, CP 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe J2S 7C6, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: cecile.aenishaenslin@mail.mcgill.ca.
Cécile
C
Aenishaenslin
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, CP 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe H2S 7C6, Québec, Canada.
Catherine
C
Bouchard
Centre for Food-borne, Environmental & Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, CP 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe H2S 7C6, Québec, Canada.
Jules K
JK
Koffi
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, CP 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe H2S 7C6, Québec, Canada.
Yann
Y
Pelcat
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, CP 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe H2S 7C6, Québec, Canada.
Nicholas H
NH
Ogden
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Awareness; Behavior; Canada; Communication; Lyme borreliosis; Lyme disease; Prevention & control; Risk; Tick bites; Tick-borne diseases; Ticks