Knowledge and use of prevention measures for chikungunya virus among visitors — Virgin Islands National Park, 2015

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Travel Med Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Cherry, Cara C. ; Beer, Karlyn D. ; Fulton, Corey ; Wong, David ; Buttke, Danielle ; Staples, J. Erin ; Ellis, Esther M.
• Description:
  Background ; In June 2014, the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus (CHIKV) emerged in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), a location where tourists comprise the majority of the population during peak season (January–April). Limited information is available concerning visitors’ CHIKV awareness and prevention measures. ; Methods ; We surveyed a convenience sample of Virgin Islands National Park visitors aged ≥18 years. Respondents completed a questionnaire assessing CHIKV knowledge, attitudes, and practices; health information-seeking practices; and demographics. ; Results ; Of 783 persons contacted, 443 (57%) completed the survey. Fewer than half (208/441 47%) were aware of CHIKV. During trip preparation, 28% of respondents (126/443) investigated USVI-specific health concerns. Compared with persons unaware of CHIKV, CHIKV-aware persons were more likely to apply insect repellent (134/207 65% versus 111/231 48%; p < 0.001), wear long-sleeves and long pants (84/203 41% versus 57/227 25%; p < 0.001), and wear insect repellent-treated clothing (36/204 18% versus 22/227 10%; p = 0.02). ; Conclusions ; The majority of visitors surveyed did not research destination-related health concerns and were unaware of CHIKV. However, CHIKV awareness was associated with using multiple prevention measures to reduce disease risk. These findings underscore the importance of providing tourists with disease education upon destination arrival.
• Subjects:
  • Article
  • Chikungunya virus
  • Health knowledge
  • attitudes
  • practice
  • Travel
  • Preventive measures
  • United States Virgin Islands
  • Adult
  • Animals
  More +
• Source:
  Travel Med Infect Dis. 14(5):475-480
• Pubmed ID:
  27597388
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5079757
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  14
• Issue:
  5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42294/cdc_42294_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 320.05 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c87b2d9f92d7e4a71cfda1acdff3e505c65b73af8d9086cf8e4029f8f0d3993a