Abstract:
In the absence of a vaccine or a specific treatment the prevention of dengue aims at reducing
the density of the vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aealbopicil/S. Behavioural interventions
carried out in other countries have shown a high impact on reduction of Ae. larval indices.
The present study aimed to develop, implement and evaluate a behavioural intervention for
dengue prevention. In order to achieve these objectives, a community based intervention
trial was carried out in the Colombo Municipal Council The study consisted of three stages.
In stage one a pre intervention survey gathered baseline data. The behavioural intervention
was developed and implemented in stage two. Stage three evaluated the impact of the
intervention. Five hundred households, each from the intervention and control areas were
selected using multistage sampling technique and GIS technology. The study was conducted
in ten randomly selected Municipal wards and included 20 study clusters of 50 households
each. The participation rate was high in both the intervention (93.2 percent ) and control
groups (93.0 percent ). Information on socio-demographic characteristics, environmental
factors, knowledge, attitudes, practices, behavioural , larval parameters and disease
incidence at the baseline were assessed. All the data collecting instruments were pre tested
and showed good test re-test reliability. Both groups were similar in respect of sociodemographic and economic characteristics. Environmental risk factors \\-lthin the clusters
and in the neighbourhood were similar. At the baseline, respondents in both groups were
similar in knowledge. Awareness of vector bionomics was relatively low compared to the
knowledge on dengue infection and prevention. The two groups were also similar in their
attitudes
