title: Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Vector-Borne Disease Prevention during the Emergence of a New Arbovirus: Implications for the Control of Chikungunya Virus in French Guiana.
abstract: During the last decade, French Guiana has been affected by major dengue fever outbreaks. Although this arbovirus has been a focus of many awareness campaigns, very little information is available about beliefs, attitudes and behaviors regarding vector-borne diseases among the population of French Guiana. During the first outbreak of the chikungunya virus, a quantitative survey was conducted among high school students to study experiences, practices and perceptions related to mosquito-borne diseases and to identify socio-demographic, cognitive and environmental factors that could be associated with the engagement in protective behaviors.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional survey was administered in May 2014, with a total of 1462 students interviewed. Classrooms were randomly selected using a two-stage selection procedure with cluster samples. A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) associated with a hierarchical cluster analysis and with an ordinal logistic regression was performed. Chikungunya was less understood and perceived as a more dreadful disease than dengue fever. The analysis identified three groups of individual protection levels against mosquito-borne diseases: "low" (30%), "moderate" (42%) and "high" (28%)". Protective health behaviors were found to be performed more frequently among students who were female, had a parent with a higher educational status, lived in an individual house, and had a better understanding of the disease.
  
  
  
  This study allowed us to estimate the level of protective practices against vector-borne diseases among students after the emergence of a new arbovirus. These results revealed that the adoption of protective behaviors is a multi-factorial process that depends on both sociocultural and cognitive factors. These findings may help public health authorities to strengthen communication and outreach strategies, thereby increasing the adoption of protective health behaviors, particularly in high-risk populations.
authors: Unité d'épidémiologie, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane.
authors: Camille
authors: C
authors: Fritzell
authors: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (Aix-Marseille University, IRD 190, INSERM 1207, EHESP), Marseille, France; UMR "Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical" (INSERM 1187, CNRS 9192, IRD 249, Université de La Réunion), Réunion, France.
authors: Jocelyn
authors: J
authors: Raude
authors: Unité d'épidémiologie, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane.|Unité d'entomologie médicale, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane.
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Adde
authors: Unité d'entomologie médicale, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane.
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Dusfour
authors: Inserm UMR 1085-IRSET Institut de recherche sur la santé, l'environnement et le travail, EHESP, Rennes, France.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Quenel
authors: Unité d'épidémiologie, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, Guyane.
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Flamand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000330:Aedes / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001294:Attitude to Health; D065632:Chikungunya Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005616:French Guiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D019359:Knowledge; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult