public knowledge and attitude toward crimean congo hemorrhagic fever in tokat turkey

background: the world health organization (who) declares crimean congo hemorrhagic fe­ver (cchf) endemic in turkey. despite the magnitude of problem, no documented evi­dence exists in turkey, which reveals the aware­ness and practices of the country's adult popula­tion regarding cchf, its spread, symptoms, treatment, and preven­tion. this study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding cchf in people visit­ing terti­ary care hospital in tokat, turkey. methods: this questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients' rela­tives or guardians who ad­mitted pediatric outpatient clinics during may-july 2008. the question­naire was composed of 25 questions. results: a total of 1034 respondents participated in the survey. sufficient knowledge about cchf was not found in 28.9% of the sample. literate individuals were relatively better informed about cchf as compared to the illiterate peo­ple. television and radio were con­sidered as the most important and useful source of information on the disease. conclusion: we have found insufficient knowledge on cchf in our population. it is thought to have no chance of suc­cess against a fatal disease such as cchf, which has serious consequences, without the contribution of commu­nity. it is clear that there are important tasks for health, agri­culture, and media sectors to improve public knowledge and awareness about cchf.