Awareness of swine flu (Influenza h1n1) among the rural population of shamirpet mandal,telangana

Abstract

Background: Swine flu, being a deadly disease is dreaded all over the world, especially in India which was the third most affected country in the 2009 pandemic. Aims & objectives: To estimate awareness, perception & myths regarding swine flu and identify the sources of information among rural population of Shamirpet. Materials & method: Cross sectional study was done in February 2015 immediately after an epidemic situation, among randomly selected individuals in a rural population, with a pre-defined questionnaire and data was analyzed using MS excel. Results: 92% of the study population has heard of swine flu. Major source of information being the television and the health care professionals were a source to only 9.2% of the entire study population. 80.8% of the population aware that the route of transmission of H1N1 is via inhalation and 83.2% were aware of use face mask to prevent swine flu. Conclusion: knowledge regarding swine flu is high among the study population as television is the commonest source of information, health care professionals should help in clearing the misconceptions and educate the population especially during epidemics. As swine flu spreads quickly in its early stages, high level of awareness is important for its containment.