Chikungunya Disease Awareness Among U.S. Travelers to Caribbean Destinations
Authors
Abstract:
Introduction: This study investigated chikungunya disease awareness and its predictors, the level of adoption of recommended personal protective behaviors against chikungunya, and the health information-seeking behavior of U.S. travelers to Caribbean destinations.Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective online survey of 653 adult U.S. international travelers who visited any one of 34 Caribbean destinations was conducted in October 2015. Study participants were recruited through Amazon® Mechanical Turk. Travelers who met the inclusion criteria and gave informed consent were subsequently redirected to complete the survey which was domiciled in Qualtrics®.Results: Results regarding health information-seeking behavior indicated that 51% of study participants had never sought information about chikungunya or any vector-borne illnesses. Only thirty percent of study participants reported having heard of chikungunya disease before participating in this study. After adjusting for the presence of other variables in a logistic regression model, gender of female, higher levels of education, more time spent at the destination, and a higher number of hours spent engaging in outdoor activities were factors significantly associated with chikungunya disease awareness. Study results also showed that twenty-two percent of study participants did not engage in any of the three recommended personal protective behaviors under investigation.Conclusion: Study findings highlighted a gap in existing approaches to health information dissemination vis-à-vis adoption of recommended personal protective behaviors, especially for U.S. travelers at risk for chikungunya and other emerging mosquito-borne infectious diseases in Caribbean destinations.
similar resources
Modeling Insect-Repellent Use for Chikungunya Disease Prevention Among US-Caribbean Travelers
Introduction: This study examined the relationship between specific psychosocial variables and the use of insect repellents on skin or clothing as a preventive behavior for Chikungunya fever among US travelers to Caribbean destinations. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective online survey method was adopted. US residents who travelled to one of 34 Carib...
full textChikungunya Virus in US Travelers Returning from India, 2006
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne alphavirus, is endemic in Africa and Asia. In 2005-2006, CHIKV epidemics were reported in islands in the Indian Ocean and in southern India. We present data on laboratory-confirmed CHIKV infections among travelers returning from India to the United States during 2006.
full textChikungunya Infection in Travelers
The largest described outbreak of chikungunya virus has been occurring on the islands of the southwest Indian Ocean since March 2005. We describe the manifestations of chikungunya virus infection in travelers returning from these islands, with focus on skin manifestations.
full textVaccination and Malaria Prevention among International Travelers Departing from Athens International Airport to African Destinations
Background. International travel to Africa has grown dramatically over the last decade along with an increasing need to understand the health issues for travelers. The current survey aimed to assess vaccination and malaria prevention of travelers visiting Africa. Methods. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted from of November 1, 2011 to of April 30, 2013 at Athens International Airport. Re...
full textTravelers as Sentinels for Chikungunya Fever, Brazil
To the Editor: The reemergence of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection recently has been reported in travelers after they returned from affected areas (1–6). In the Americas, local transmission has not been identifi ed, although imported cases have been reported in travelers returning from Reunion Island to Martinique, French Guiana, and Guadeloupe (7). In the United States, CHIKV infections hav...
full textChikungunya and Dengue Viruses in Travelers
To the Editor: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arthropod-borne virus transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes, was fi rst isolated in Tanzania (Tanganyika) in 1953 (1). Various outbreaks have since occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, and India (2). CHIKV has recently been reported in a large area in the Indian Ocean islands and the Indian subcontinent. After an outbreak in Kenya in 2004, ot...
full textMy Resources
Journal title
volume 5 issue 1
pages 20- 27
publication date 2017-02-01
By following a journal you will be notified via email when a new issue of this journal is published.
Hosted on Doprax cloud platform doprax.com
copyright © 2015-2023