Assessment of community knowledge and practices on Malaria control with indoor residual spraying in Kazerun, south of Iran

Background :Human malaria is a crucial vector-borne contagious disease in Iran. It is still endemic over much of the oriental region of Iran that is still in the pre-elimination phase without considerable drop in the proportion of malaria cases.Materials and Methods :A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Kazerun, Fars province, in the southwest part of the country to determine malaria situation and identify factors that impede progress of the elimination phase. A standard questionnaire with 20 questions was provided with division into knowledge, attitude and practice categories. Stratified sampling was then used to select samples in three villages of Kazerun, Iran.Results: Participants included female (192, 92.3%) and male (16, 7.7%), respectively. Most of this community benefited from acceptable literacy level.Conclusion: According to this study, well-educated persons have high motivation and attitude to use bed net and protect themselves against mosquitoes. This population cooperates properly with health care workers within malaria control program strategies (especially indoor residual spraying). Comprehensive and synergistic approaches need to be taken to manage malaria elimination strategy in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Malaria ، IRS ، KAP ، Insecticide ، Iran.