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J Social Behav Communit Health 2025, 9(1): 1477-1479 |
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Karimiankakolaki Z. The Importance of Training Health Workers in
Preventing the Spread of Dengue Fever. J Social Behav Communit Health 2025; 9 (1) :1477-1479
URL: http://sbrh.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-278-en.html
URL: http://sbrh.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-278-en.html
Department of Health, ShK.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran , zohrehkarimian68@gmail.com
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The Importance of Training Health Workers in
Preventing the Spread of Dengue Fever
Zohreh Karimiankakolaki *
Department of Health, ShK.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
Citation: Karimiankakolaki Z. The Importance of Training Health Workers in Preventing the Spread of Dengue Fever. Journal of Social Behavior and Community Health (JSBCH). 2025; 9(1): 1477-1479.
Preventing the Spread of Dengue Fever
Zohreh Karimiankakolaki *
Department of Health, ShK.C., Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
| A R T I C L E I N F O | ||
| Letter to the Editor | *Corresponding Author: Zohreh Karimiankakolaki Email: zohrehkarimian@gmail.com Tel: +98 913 2366910 |
|
Article History: Received: 25 December 2024 Revised: 26 February 2025 Accepted: 25 March 2025 |
Key words
Dengue Fever, Aedes, mosquito, Health Workers, Health, Education
In a report by World Health Organization on dengue fever, approximately 390 million infections with the virus are reported annually. Almost 40% of the world's population is in areas at risk of this infection.(Bhatt et al., 2013, WHO, 2024). Dengue fever increased significantly from 2008 to 2015, spreading with widespread travel to various continents, including the Americas, Asia, and parts of the Pacific (WHO, 2024). Dengue fever closely resembles the flu in terms of symptoms and is associated with risks such as severe bleeding and respiratory distress. (WHO, 2009). Symptoms of the disease range from asymptomatic to symptomatic, afebrile to hemorrhagic, and usually begin 5-7 days after the mosquito bite (Sampat, 2021). Clinical features of the disease include fever with rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain (Halstead, 2007).
In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the World Health Organization has reported multiple outbreaks of dengue in recent years, particularly in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Recently, evidence of the disease has been seen in Iran, in which some patients had traveled to endemic areas, including Malaysia, India, and Thailand, and some had no travel history and were from Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, neighboring Pakistan, and Kurdistan province in western Iran (Ghasemzadeh et al., 2016, Heydari et al., 2018). Iran has a hot and dry climate at which many dengue transmitter mosquitoes can live, for example, stagnant and dirty water in car wheels and flowerpots, etc. Therefore, dengue can be considered as a treat in Iran (Ebrahimi et al., 2016). Dengue fever has heavy economic costs, and controlling it requires improving preventive strategies (Al-Zurfi et al., 2015). It is also necessary to examine the behavior of infected patients in seeking health services (Elsinga et al., 2015).
Public education and mass campaigns help control the disease, and the World Health Organization emphasizes encouraging people to cooperate to solve this problem. (Dickinson et al., 2012, WHO, 2015). Mosquito-related education programs can help with population-based management (Stefopoulou et al., 2018).
Knowledge, attitude, and performance of health workers are considered important factors that influence the incidence and transmission of dengue disease (Handel et al., 2016). Despite efforts to develop an effective vaccine for all four serotypes of the virus, the only practical solution to prevent and control the disease is health education and reducing the population of carriers. Since health workers interact directly with patients and are known as the front line of diagnosis, information and treatment of the disease, their education can play an important role in preventing, treating and controlling the spread of the disease and promoting community health (Ho et al., 2013). Therefore, educational interventions regarding dengue fever should emphasize increasing the knowledge and attitudes of health workers to lead to appropriate performance and behavior for adequate disease management. Training health workers in the identification, assessment, selection, and implementation of disease prevention and management protocols is essential.(Nikookar et al., 2023, Zida-Compaore et al., 2022).
The first line of treatment and prevention of dengue fever in Iran are health workers, which shows the importance of their role. In recent years, educational interventions in the form of continuing medical education for health workers have been held in priority areas regarding dengue fever. (Nikookar et al., 2023). These educational interventions aim to help change the performance of health workers to provide appropriate services. (Guad et al., 2021, Nikookar et al., 2023).
Considering the above,
• Health system workers are the first line of contact with patients and also provide education on preventive behaviors regarding this disease.
• Knowledge, attitude, and performance of health workers are important factors that affect the incidence and transmission of dengue.
• Education of health workers regarding this disease can play an important role in preventing, treating, and controlling the spread of the disease and promoting community health.
Conflict of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Funding
Not applicable.
References
AL-ZURFI, B., FUAD, M., ABDELQADER, M. A., BAOBAID, M. F., ELNAJEH, M., GHAZI, H. F., IBRAHIM, M. H. & ABDULLAH, M. R. (2015). Knowledge, attitude and practice of dengue fever and health education programme among students of Alam Shah Science School, Cheras, Malaysia. Practice, 15, 69-74.
BHATT, S., GETHING, P. W., BRADY, O. J., MESSINA, J. P., FARLOW, A. W., MOYES, C. L., DRAKE, J. M., BROWNSTEIN, J. S., HOEN, A. G. & SANKOH, O.( 2013). The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature, 496, 504-507.
DICKINSON, J. L., SHIRK, J., BONTER, D., BONNEY, R., CRAIN, R. L., MARTIN, J., PHILLIPS, T. & PURCELL, K. (2012). The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 291-297.
EBRAHIMI, M., ABADI, A., BASHIZADEH-FAKHAR, H. & FAHIMI, E. (2016). Dengue Fever in Iran: A Case Report. Zahedan J Res Med Sci, 18, e9953.
ELSINGA, J., LIZARAZO, E. F., VINCENTI, M. F., SCHMIDT, M., VELASCO-SALAS, Z. I., ARIAS, L., BAILEY, A. & TAMI, A. (2015). Health seeking behaviour and treatment intentions of dengue and fever: a household survey of children and adults in Venezuela. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 9, e0004237.
GHASEMZADEH, I., DALAKI, M. & SAFARI, R. (2016). Dengue fever in Iran. A case report. Acta Medica Mediterranea, 32, 2025-2027.[persian]
GUAD, R. M., MANGANTIG, E., LOW, W. Y., TAYLOR-ROBINSON, A. W., AZZANI, M., SEKARAN, S. D., SIM, M. S. & AZIZAN, N. (2021). Development and validation of a structured survey questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, preventive practice, and treatment-seeking behaviour regarding dengue among the resident population of Sabah, Malaysia: an exploratory factor analysis. BMC infectious diseases, 21, 893.
HALSTEAD, S. B. (2007). Dengue. The lancet, 370, 1644-1652.
HANDEL, A. S., AYALA, E. B., BORBOR-CORDOVA, M. J., FESSLER, A. G., FINKELSTEIN, J. L., ESPINOZA, R. X. R., RYAN, S. J. & STEWART-IBARRA, A. M. (2016). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding dengue infection among public sector healthcare providers in Machala, Ecuador. . Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines.
HEYDARI, M., METANAT, M., ROUZBEH-FAR, M.-A., TABATABAEI, S. M., RAKHSHANI, M., SEPEHRI-RAD, N. & KESHTKAR-JAHROMI, M. (2018). Dengue fever as an emerging infection in southeast Iran. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 98(5), 1469. [persian]
HO, T.-S., HUANG, M.-C., WANG, S.-M., HSU, H.-C. & LIU, C.-C.( 2013). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of dengue disease among healthcare professionals in southern Taiwan. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 112, 18-23.
NIKOOKAR, S. H., MOOSAZADEH, M., FAZELI-DINAN, M., ZAIM, M., SEDAGHAT, M. M. & ENAYATI, A. (2023). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of healthcare workers regarding dengue fever in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1129056. [persian]
SAMPAT, P. R. (2021). A literature review on dengue. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, 4(7), 401-405.
STEFOPOULOU, Α., BALATSOS, G., PETRAKI, A., LADEAU, S. L., PAPACHRISTOS, D. & MICHAELAKIS, Α. (2018). Reducing Aedes albopictus breeding sites through education: A study in urban area. PloS one, 13, e0202451.
WHO,( 2009). Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever; WHO: Geneva,Switzerland. Available online: https://www.who.int/news/item/15-05-2009-dengue-and-dengue-haemorrhagic-fever-(dhf).
WHO,( 2015). Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030, World Health Organization.
WHO 2024. Dengue and severe dengue. Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue.
ZIDA-COMPAORE, W. I. C., GBEASOR-KOMLANVI, F. A., TCHANKONI, M. K., SADIO, A. J., KONU, Y. R., AGBONON, A. & EKOUEVI, D. K. (2022). Knowledge and practices among healthcare workers regarding dengue in Togo. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 13(2).
Dengue Fever, Aedes, mosquito, Health Workers, Health, Education
In a report by World Health Organization on dengue fever, approximately 390 million infections with the virus are reported annually. Almost 40% of the world's population is in areas at risk of this infection.(Bhatt et al., 2013, WHO, 2024). Dengue fever increased significantly from 2008 to 2015, spreading with widespread travel to various continents, including the Americas, Asia, and parts of the Pacific (WHO, 2024). Dengue fever closely resembles the flu in terms of symptoms and is associated with risks such as severe bleeding and respiratory distress. (WHO, 2009). Symptoms of the disease range from asymptomatic to symptomatic, afebrile to hemorrhagic, and usually begin 5-7 days after the mosquito bite (Sampat, 2021). Clinical features of the disease include fever with rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain (Halstead, 2007).
In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the World Health Organization has reported multiple outbreaks of dengue in recent years, particularly in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Recently, evidence of the disease has been seen in Iran, in which some patients had traveled to endemic areas, including Malaysia, India, and Thailand, and some had no travel history and were from Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, neighboring Pakistan, and Kurdistan province in western Iran (Ghasemzadeh et al., 2016, Heydari et al., 2018). Iran has a hot and dry climate at which many dengue transmitter mosquitoes can live, for example, stagnant and dirty water in car wheels and flowerpots, etc. Therefore, dengue can be considered as a treat in Iran (Ebrahimi et al., 2016). Dengue fever has heavy economic costs, and controlling it requires improving preventive strategies (Al-Zurfi et al., 2015). It is also necessary to examine the behavior of infected patients in seeking health services (Elsinga et al., 2015).
Public education and mass campaigns help control the disease, and the World Health Organization emphasizes encouraging people to cooperate to solve this problem. (Dickinson et al., 2012, WHO, 2015). Mosquito-related education programs can help with population-based management (Stefopoulou et al., 2018).
Knowledge, attitude, and performance of health workers are considered important factors that influence the incidence and transmission of dengue disease (Handel et al., 2016). Despite efforts to develop an effective vaccine for all four serotypes of the virus, the only practical solution to prevent and control the disease is health education and reducing the population of carriers. Since health workers interact directly with patients and are known as the front line of diagnosis, information and treatment of the disease, their education can play an important role in preventing, treating and controlling the spread of the disease and promoting community health (Ho et al., 2013). Therefore, educational interventions regarding dengue fever should emphasize increasing the knowledge and attitudes of health workers to lead to appropriate performance and behavior for adequate disease management. Training health workers in the identification, assessment, selection, and implementation of disease prevention and management protocols is essential.(Nikookar et al., 2023, Zida-Compaore et al., 2022).
The first line of treatment and prevention of dengue fever in Iran are health workers, which shows the importance of their role. In recent years, educational interventions in the form of continuing medical education for health workers have been held in priority areas regarding dengue fever. (Nikookar et al., 2023). These educational interventions aim to help change the performance of health workers to provide appropriate services. (Guad et al., 2021, Nikookar et al., 2023).
Considering the above,
• Health system workers are the first line of contact with patients and also provide education on preventive behaviors regarding this disease.
• Knowledge, attitude, and performance of health workers are important factors that affect the incidence and transmission of dengue.
• Education of health workers regarding this disease can play an important role in preventing, treating, and controlling the spread of the disease and promoting community health.
Conflict of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Funding
Not applicable.
References
AL-ZURFI, B., FUAD, M., ABDELQADER, M. A., BAOBAID, M. F., ELNAJEH, M., GHAZI, H. F., IBRAHIM, M. H. & ABDULLAH, M. R. (2015). Knowledge, attitude and practice of dengue fever and health education programme among students of Alam Shah Science School, Cheras, Malaysia. Practice, 15, 69-74.
BHATT, S., GETHING, P. W., BRADY, O. J., MESSINA, J. P., FARLOW, A. W., MOYES, C. L., DRAKE, J. M., BROWNSTEIN, J. S., HOEN, A. G. & SANKOH, O.( 2013). The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature, 496, 504-507.
DICKINSON, J. L., SHIRK, J., BONTER, D., BONNEY, R., CRAIN, R. L., MARTIN, J., PHILLIPS, T. & PURCELL, K. (2012). The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 291-297.
EBRAHIMI, M., ABADI, A., BASHIZADEH-FAKHAR, H. & FAHIMI, E. (2016). Dengue Fever in Iran: A Case Report. Zahedan J Res Med Sci, 18, e9953.
ELSINGA, J., LIZARAZO, E. F., VINCENTI, M. F., SCHMIDT, M., VELASCO-SALAS, Z. I., ARIAS, L., BAILEY, A. & TAMI, A. (2015). Health seeking behaviour and treatment intentions of dengue and fever: a household survey of children and adults in Venezuela. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 9, e0004237.
GHASEMZADEH, I., DALAKI, M. & SAFARI, R. (2016). Dengue fever in Iran. A case report. Acta Medica Mediterranea, 32, 2025-2027.[persian]
GUAD, R. M., MANGANTIG, E., LOW, W. Y., TAYLOR-ROBINSON, A. W., AZZANI, M., SEKARAN, S. D., SIM, M. S. & AZIZAN, N. (2021). Development and validation of a structured survey questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, preventive practice, and treatment-seeking behaviour regarding dengue among the resident population of Sabah, Malaysia: an exploratory factor analysis. BMC infectious diseases, 21, 893.
HALSTEAD, S. B. (2007). Dengue. The lancet, 370, 1644-1652.
HANDEL, A. S., AYALA, E. B., BORBOR-CORDOVA, M. J., FESSLER, A. G., FINKELSTEIN, J. L., ESPINOZA, R. X. R., RYAN, S. J. & STEWART-IBARRA, A. M. (2016). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding dengue infection among public sector healthcare providers in Machala, Ecuador. . Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines.
HEYDARI, M., METANAT, M., ROUZBEH-FAR, M.-A., TABATABAEI, S. M., RAKHSHANI, M., SEPEHRI-RAD, N. & KESHTKAR-JAHROMI, M. (2018). Dengue fever as an emerging infection in southeast Iran. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 98(5), 1469. [persian]
HO, T.-S., HUANG, M.-C., WANG, S.-M., HSU, H.-C. & LIU, C.-C.( 2013). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of dengue disease among healthcare professionals in southern Taiwan. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 112, 18-23.
NIKOOKAR, S. H., MOOSAZADEH, M., FAZELI-DINAN, M., ZAIM, M., SEDAGHAT, M. M. & ENAYATI, A. (2023). Knowledge, attitude, and practice of healthcare workers regarding dengue fever in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1129056. [persian]
SAMPAT, P. R. (2021). A literature review on dengue. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, 4(7), 401-405.
STEFOPOULOU, Α., BALATSOS, G., PETRAKI, A., LADEAU, S. L., PAPACHRISTOS, D. & MICHAELAKIS, Α. (2018). Reducing Aedes albopictus breeding sites through education: A study in urban area. PloS one, 13, e0202451.
WHO,( 2009). Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever; WHO: Geneva,Switzerland. Available online: https://www.who.int/news/item/15-05-2009-dengue-and-dengue-haemorrhagic-fever-(dhf).
WHO,( 2015). Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030, World Health Organization.
WHO 2024. Dengue and severe dengue. Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue.
ZIDA-COMPAORE, W. I. C., GBEASOR-KOMLANVI, F. A., TCHANKONI, M. K., SADIO, A. J., KONU, Y. R., AGBONON, A. & EKOUEVI, D. K. (2022). Knowledge and practices among healthcare workers regarding dengue in Togo. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 13(2).
Type of Study: Letter to Editor |
Subject:
Education & Health
Received: 2024/12/25 | Accepted: 2025/03/25 | Published: 2025/05/18
Received: 2024/12/25 | Accepted: 2025/03/25 | Published: 2025/05/18
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