Investigation of chikungunya outbreak and self-care behaviors of the villagers in Village No. 10, Nong Teng Subdistrict, Krasang District, Buriram Province, 8 February–28 March 2019

Abstract

Background: On February 22, 2019 Buri Ram Province found a case report of Chikungunya disease (Index case), a 32 years old female patient, from an area that had never reported a Chikungunya case. This study aimed to confirm the diagnosis and the outbreak, search for disease source, characteristics of chikungunya outbreak along with studying knowledge and the self–care behaviour leading to disease control and prevention.
Methods: The investigation is a descriptive epidemiological study by interviewing patients, reviewing medical records and active case finding. Survey of the environment and larval indices were also conducted.
Results: Ban Chamrae, Village No. 10, Nong Teng Subdistrict, Krasang District, Buri Ram Province had total population of 230 people. There were numerous water containers. From an active case finding, we found 44 cases, among them 2 were confirmed by Real-Time PCR. Morbidity rate was 19.13 percent. Their average age was 32.04 years with range of 4-78 years. An environmental study found the value of HI = 31.91, CI = 12.5. From the survey of knowledge and treatment of Chikungunya disease among 140 people. We found that around 84 percent did not know what disease was, and 83 percent were not yet aware of the closure of containers or cleaning water containers every 7 days. After a section of village meeting, knowledge and protective behaviours regarding Chikungunya disease was significantly higher (p–value < 0.001). After the investigation, it was found that HI = 0, CI = 0 and no new case was found until 28 days.
Recommendation: The disease surveillance system should be strengthened by notifying physicians and related parties to immediately report suspected patients without having to wait for the laboratory results. The disease prevention and control should develop effective risk communication to alert people in all areas to eliminate mosquito larvae and destroy breeding sites continuously on a weekly basis. Lastly the surveillance and communication systems between provinces should be developed.