Koji Kanda

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey of Rabies in a Community in Sri Lanka

ObjectivesThe primary objective of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of rabies management and control of a sample population. The secondary objective was to compare the KAP with respect to rabies management and control between urban and rural areas and between pet and non-pet owners.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out by conducting face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires among 1570 respondents from selected households in the Kandy District, Sri Landa.ResultsApproximately 58% of the sample population was pet owners. Among all the respondents, there was a high level of awareness (90%) that dogs are the most common rabies reservoir, that the disease is fatal (79%), and that rabies can be prevented by vaccination (88%). Most of the subjects (96%) would seek treatment from a doctor or a hospital after being bitten by a dog. Although 76% of the respondents said that their pet dogs were vaccinated, only one-half were able to present a vaccination certificate upon request. The subjects from the urban areas would submit the head of an animal for rabies evaluation (69%) compared with those from the rural areas (57%). Pet owners (93%) are more aware that dog rabies vaccines are available from authorized offices than non-pet owners (87%).ConclusionsThe level of awareness of rabies and the level of receptiveness to rabies control measures are high. There is a difference in the attitudes and pet care practices relevant to rabies control between urban and rural areas. Pet owners tend to be more cooperative to rabies control activities. The attitudes and practices of the respondents may reflect the inaccessibility of facilities and the lack of services that would enable community participation in rabies control.

Prevalence and carrier status of leptospirosis in smallholder dairy cattle and peridomestic rodents in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Leptospirosis is an important bacterial zoonotic disease globally and one of the notifiable diseases in Sri Lanka. Other than human leptospirosis, little information is available on leptospirosis in domestic and feral animals in Sri Lanka. Thus, this study attempted to determine the prevalence and carrier status of leptospirosis in smallholder dairy cattle and peridomestic rodents to understand the impact of the disease on public health in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Cattle and rodent samples were collected from the Yatinuwara and Udunuwara divisional secretaries in Kandy. Serum samples were analyzed for the presence of antileptospiral antibodies using microscopic agglutination test. DNA was extracted from cattle urine and rodent kidney tissue samples, in which polymerase chain reaction was carried out to detect the Leptospira flaB gene. The cattle in 19 (38.8%) of the 49 farms harbored antileptospiral antibodies. Out of 113 cattle serum samples, 23 (20.3%) were positive; 17 (73.9%) and 6 (26.1%) reacted with serogroups Sejroe and Hebdomadis, respectively. Out of the 74 rodent samples, 13 (17.5%) were positive; 8 (61.5%) and 4 (30.8%) had reactions to serogroups Javanica and Icterohaemorrhagiae, respectively. Leptospiral DNA was detected in one cattle urine sample and identified as Leptospira interrogans. This study revealed a high prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle and rodents in Kandy. These animals were infected with a wide array of leptospiral serogroups, which are consistent with the research findings observed in humans in Kandy. Overall, serological data indicate that relative to rodents, cattle may be a more significant reservoir for human transmission and a greater source of potential risk to local agricultural communities.

Gender gaps in life expectancy: generalized trends and negative associations with development indices in OECD countries

BACKGROUND Life expectancy (LE) is a major marker of individual survival. It also serves as a guide to highlight both the progress and the gaps in total social and societal health. Comparative LE in concert with measures of gender-specific experience, indices of empowerment and societal happiness and development offer a comparative tool to examine trends and similarities of societal progress as seen through the lens of cross-national experience. METHODS To determine the gender gaps in LE (GGLE) trends, we performed a longitudinal analysis, covering a period of 49 years (1960-2008). To examine the association of GGLE with development indices, we used the 2007 GGLE data, the newest happiness data mostly drawn from 2006; the 2006 Human Development Index (HDI) data and the 2006 Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) data. RESULTS It revealed that most of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries had a GGLE trend that occurred in an inverted U-curve fashion. We divided them into three subgroups based on the peak years of respective GGLE. The earlier the peak year, the happier the countries, the higher the HDI and the smaller the current GGLE are. Association analysis indicates that Happiness, HDI and GEM are all negatively associated with GGLE. CONCLUSION This pattern suggests that GGLE undergoes three phases of growth, peak and stability and decline. Japan will soon be seeing its GGLE gradually shrinking in the foreseeable future. The continuing increases in Happiness, HDI and GEM are associated with a decrease in GGLE, which should be carefully taken into consideration.

Awareness and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among residents of Kandy, Sri Lanka

Currently, interventions for HIV/AIDS control in Sri Lanka are only carried out among the most-at-risk populations. This study was conducted to identify the level of awareness and stigma-related attitudes among the general population of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 869 residents of 18–64 years of age in Kandy, Sri Lanka. A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to obtain information about stigma, discrimination and HIV/AIDS-related knowledge. Chi-square test and multivariate analysis were applied to find possible associations between HIV-related variables and socio-demographic indicators. Response rate was 82.0%. Overall, 93.5% of the participants have heard of HIV/AIDS but the knowledge on HIV/AIDS was low with an average score of 51.7%, no statistically significant difference between genders (p = 0.352). Only 58.1% were aware that a condom was an effective tool for its prevention. There were many misconceptions related to epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. The participants showed more positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) for all questionnaire items except for those listed under shame and blame. Positive attitudes towards PLHIV were observed to be greater among those with a better HIV/AIDS-related knowledge score. There was no significant association between the attitudes towards PLHIV and socio-demographic characteristics such as ethnicity and religion. There is a greater need of making attempts towards educating the public regarding HIV/AIDS to eliminate misconceptions prevalent in the society. Stigma-related attitudes are mainly due to shame and blame associated with the disease. As the attitudes towards PLHIV were more positive among those with a better HIV/AIDS-related knowledge score, targeted HIV/AIDS-related health education interventions maybe recommended in this regard.