Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice On Prevention of Sparganosis Infection Among Inhabitants of Babati District, Tanzania - Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice On Prevention of Sparganosis Infection Among Inhabitants of Babati District, Tanzania - Open Access Pub

The knowledge,attitudes, and practice among inhabitants of Babati district in Tanzania on sparganosis were evaluated. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 160 participants from the district. Demographic and socioeconomic information of the participants and their KAP on sparganosis was collected by using a pre-tested questionnaire. All 160(100%) participants had no knowledge about sparganosis. Regarding attitude of participants to keeping dogs and cats; all 160 (100%) participants were not aware of dangers associated with dogs and cats to transmission of sparganosis. 39 (30.0%) of the participants had knowledge of drinking boiled water. There is a need to organise health education programme about sparganosis to increase community knowledge. DOI 10.14302/issn.2575-1212.jvhc-17-1773 Human sparganosis is caused by tissue invading plerocercoid larva of Spirometra. It is manifested usually by migrating granulomatous lesions 1. The disease has been reported worldwide 2. Its first intermediate host is the copepod, the second intermediate hosts include a wide spectrum of vertebrates such as amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals 3, 4, 5. Humans are also second intermediate hosts and can be infected through drinking water containing infected Cyclops or eating the second intermediate hosts infected with spargana. Spargana can migrate widely in the human visceral organs and the resulting symptoms are different depending on the particular tissues or organs involved 6. Recently, sparganosis of the central nervous system attracted much attentions world wide because of its scattered discoveries 7, 8, 9. The major symptoms of neurosparganosis are hemiparesis, seizures, headache and deterioration of intelligence in young adults 9. Therefore, more attention should be paid on the clinical implication of human sparganosis. Studies on human sparganosis in Babati district,Tanzania has not been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) on sparganosis among participants in Babati district in Tanzania. In the present study the following methodological approach was used. Ethical Consideration The protocol of this study was approved by the National Institute for Medical Research (Reference No. NIMR/HQ/R.8a/Vol.IX/1285). During field work the objectives of the study were explained to the participants. They were informed that their participation was totally voluntary and that they could decide not to participate in the study. Written and signed or thumb-printed informed consents were obtained from all participants before starting