Natalja Morač, Tatjana Žuravliova, Geriuldas Žiliukas, Arvydas Martinkėnas
Abstract
The aim – to analyze the parents’ awareness of rotavirus infection. Rotavirus infection (RVI) is prevalent worldwide and is the most common cause of diarrhea. RVI is a relevant public health problem due to the high incidence of young children. In the interest of effective prevention RVI need to provide information to parents’. A study used questionnaire survey method. The study involved parents (102 parents) raising children 3-5 years old with a history of RVI and treated in a hospital x, in gastroenterological section. The investigation has shown that parents are not adequately informed about RVI: more than one-third (36.7 percent.) parents have the wrong knowledge or do not know how RVI spreads. The majority (65 percent) of the parents’ think, that the main risk factor that leads to disease RVI is communicating with sick children and one-third (30 percent.) of parents say, that RVI illness is caused by failure of personal (especially hand) hygiene. 60 percent of parents’ believe that recovering from the RVI does not acquire resistance to this illness. Parents lack knowledge about vaccines from RVI: only 20 percent of parents’ are convinced that in order to prevent the disease and it’s complications – the most effective means is vaccination, and only one-third of parents believe that children must be vaccinated against RVI. Survey data suggest that parents do not get enough qualified and necessary information from health care professionals. In case of doubt of child hygiene, parents tend not to seek advice from a nurse and the main source from which the parents are aware of RVI is the media and the Internet. Parental awareness of rotavirus infection is insufficient: 3.7 percent. parents do not know or is mistakenly aware of rotavirus infection and the ways infection spreads, 60 percent. – lack of knowledge about acquired immunity and 30 percent. – importance of hygiene. Parents does not evaluate enough the meaning of vaccination against rotavirus infection, but insufficient, 28.3 percent. of parents believe that vaccination is effective, but the other part of the parents does not evaluate the vaccine or do not know about it – 31.7 percent. Parents welcomes the educational and information tools, including nurses and doctors’ efforts to provide information about rotavirus infection and hygiene skills. This points to 80 percent. parents.
Keyword(s): rotavirus infection; prevention; and parents’ awareness.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2015.112
Full Text: PDF