Skip to main content
 
Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
 

See our updated masking policy »

Stanford Health Care

Knowledge and practices related to plague in an endemic area of Uganda. International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases Kugeler, K. J., Apangu, T., Forrester, J. D., Griffith, K. S., Candini, G., Abaru, J., Okoth, J. F., Apio, H., Ezama, G., Okello, R., Brett, M., Mead, P. 2017

Abstract

Plague is a virulent zoonosis reported most commonly from sub-Saharan Africa. Early treatment with antibiotics is important to prevent mortality. Understanding knowledge gaps and common behaviors informs development of educational efforts to reduce plague mortality.We conducted a multi-stage cluster-sampled survey of 420 households in the plague-endemic West Nile region of Uganda to assess knowledge of symptoms and causes of plague and healthcare-seeking practices.Most (84%) respondents were able to correctly describe plague symptoms; approximately 75% linked plague with fleas and dead rats. Most respondents indicated they would seek health care at a clinic for possible plague, however plague-like symptoms were reportedly common and in practice, persons sought care for those symptoms at a health clinic infrequently.Persons in the plague-endemic region of Uganda have a high level of understanding of plague, yet topics for targeted educational messages are apparent.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijid.2017.09.007

View details for PubMedID 28935246