Browsing by Author "Radhika, N.M.L."

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Awareness on dengue and solid waste management among selected school students in Gampaha District of Sri Lanka
(Moleclar Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Radhika, N.M.L.; Gunathilaka, P.A.D.H.N.; Abeyewickreme, W.; Kasturiratne, K.T.A.A.
BACKGROUND: Community mobilization is often respected as a powerful tool in ensuring the effective controlling of dengue via promoting effective and sustainable dengue vector control strategies. The current study attempts to investigate the level of awareness on dengue and solid waste management, among selected school students in Gampaha District which is the second highest dengue reported district in Sri Lanka. METHODOLOGY: Awareness programmes on dengue (transmission, vector ecology and preventive measures) and solid waste management were conducted in 10 schools belong to Kelaniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area selecting a minimum group of 200 students from each school within the age of 13 - 15 years. Tools such audio-visual presentations, leaflets and videos were used for the awareness programmes. A questionnaire was given to each student prior to the awareness and after the awareness programs as pre and post evaluations respectively in order to assess the general awareness on dengue and solid waste management before and after the awareness programme. One-Way ANOVA, paired t-test and multiple regression techniques were utilized in evaluation of the degree of awareness and key factors affecting the level of awareness, prior and after the conducting the awareness programmes. RESULTS: The degree of initial awareness on dengue and solid waste management of the target school community was recognized to be significantly characterized by the grade of the students and the Education Zonal Category [EZU] (into which their school belongs to) in accordance with One-Way ANOVA (p < 0.05). A significant increment in post awareness of the target school community was recognized due to the conducting of awareness programmes in accordance with the statistics of paired t-test (p < 0.05). Furthermore, based on the multiple linear regression modelling, the post awareness was significantly influenced by the grade of the students and the initial awareness (p < 0.05), regardless of the EZU (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The awareness of school students on dengue and solid waste management is significantly affected by the grade of the students and EZCs. Awareness programmes are an effective media of raising the awareness of school communities on dengue and solid waste management, while motivating them to actively contribute for the controlling of dengue, via establishing a strong inter sectorial network among schools and other relevant institutions within the Gampaha District.
Occurrence of dengue vectors in school premises in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka.
(International Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2017 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Radhika, N.M.L.; Gunathilaka, P.A.D.H.N.; Kasturiratne, A.; Abeyewickreme, W.
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the vectors responsible for the transmission of dengue virus in Sri Lanka. During the past decade, Gampaha district has been ranked the second on the number of reported dengue cases. Ae. aegypti is considered as the primary vector of dengue. Previous studies conducted in the Gampaha district have highlighted that high number of breeding habitats of dengue vectors are common among school premises. The present study was carried out over a period of seven months (June to December 2016) in order to identify the species of dengue vectors inhabiting selected school premises in Gampaha district. In this cross sectional study, 60 schools were randomly selected, representing four educational zones comprising 15 schools from each educational zone namely Gampaha, Minuwangoda, Kelaniya and Negombo. Samples were collected using standard dipping and siphoning methods depending on the nature of the breeding habitat. Developmental stages of dengue vectors were recorded and larval stages of III and IV instar were directly identified using a light microscope, while I and II instars were supplemented with larval food and reared up to III instar in confined cages. The adults emerged were identified under a dissecting microscope. The larvae of Aedes mosquitoes were observed at 28 schools (46.7%) of the sixty schools surveyed. Of them, 26 school premises in Gampaha, Minuwangoda and Kelaniya educational zones were positive only for Ae. albopictus. This predominating Ae. albopictus was identified from the school premises belonging to Gampaha (10%; n=6), Minuwangoda (11.66%; n=7), Kelaniya (15%; n=9), and Negombo (6.66%; n=4) educational zones. The total number of water holding containers found in school premises inhabited by Ae. albopictus was 39 (95.12%) while Ae. aegypti was found only from two containers (coconut husk, drain) collected from two urban schools situated in Negombo area (4.88%). From the schools surveyed, discarded water holding containers were the most abundant artificial breeding habitat of Ae. albopictus (69.23%) while water holding leaf axils of banana plants were the most abundant natural breeding habitat (20.51%; n=7). Ae. albopictus, was found as the predominant dengue vector within suburban school premises in Gampaha district along with Ae. aegypti in urban school premises. Therefore, school premises should be maintained clean and dry to prevent further spread of dengue vectors among schools in Gampaha district.
Prevalence of dengue vector breeding habitats among selected Schools in Gampaha District of Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Radhika, N.M.L.; Gunathilaka, P.A.D.H.N.; Kasturiratne, K.T.A.A.; Abeyewickreme, W.
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the vectors responsible for the transmission of dengue viruses in Sri Lanka. Gampaha District has been ranked as the second most Dengue affected area. Recently, health authorities have identified that over 54 percent of schools have dengue mosquito breeding sites. However, the entomological information on the dengue vectors in School premises are not available. Therefore, the present study was carried out to identify the different breeding sites of dengue vector mosquitoes within school premises of randomly selected schools in Gampaha District of Sri Lanka. The premises of the selected schools (n= 34) were surveyed from May to October in 2016 for the availability of potential breeding habitats and the presence of vector breeding through entomological surveys. Collected vectors were identified morphologically and categorized inn to species level. All data on breeding habitats and number of vectors identified were recorded. According to survey, out of 34 schools surveyed; infested water-holding containers by Ae. albopictus were observed at 16 schools (47, 05%). Tree holes (Bridelia retusa tree), leaf axils of banana tree and fallen leaves were observed as natural breeding sites while, discarded plastic food containers plastic paint containers, broken pet bottles, tire marks on the ground, water retaining flower pots and plastic barrels were observed as artificial breeding sites. Breeding of Ae. aegypti was not identified among the school premises surveyed. Improper management of solid waste has affected positively in creating suitable habitats for vector breeding. Therefore, continuous monitoring of dengue vector breeding habitats and school based vector controlling interventions should be implemented through proper awareness and active participation for eliminating breeding habitats.
School-based interventions to control dengue vector in the Gampaha district
(University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2022) Radhika, N.M.L.
This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of school-based interventions to control dengue vectors in the Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. Sixty schools were selected randomly from the school registry in four selected educational zones (15 each) as interventional (Kelaniya and Gampaha) and control (Negombo and Minuwangoda). A baseline and three follow-up entomological surveys were conducted in all selected schools at 6-months intervals during 2016-2018. The intervention consisted an activity plan with entomological field surveys, larval control interventions followed by a structured awareness programme of dengue covering general epidemiology, clinical symptoms, prevention, vector control and waste management. Focus group discussions were conducted with stakeholders at 30 intervention schools to identify limitations in current control approaches. The level of awareness of dengue disease was assessed before and after the awareness programme using a structured questionnaire. Awareness levels were categorized as very poor (< 20%), low (21-40%) moderate (41-60%), good (61-80%) and excellent (> 80%). The change in awareness level was determined using General Linear Model. The effectiveness of the vector control interventions were assessed by the total number of dry, water-holding, and infested containers at follow-up survey compared to the baseline. Over, 46.31% (n=1016) of students had good level of awareness prior to the structured awareness programme and reached to the excellent level (41.84%; n=918) after the awareness programme. The improvement of the awareness level was identified as statistically significant according to the chi-square test of independence. At the base-line survey, Aedes albopictus was the predominant species in both control (60%; n=18) and intervention (63.33%; n=19) groups. Leaf axils were the leading breeding habitat followed by discarded plastic and metal containers in the control group. The number of discarded containers was reduced drastically in the interventional schools in the follow-up surveys. There was a statistically significant difference in dry (p<0.001), water-holding (p=0.027), and infested (p=0.006) containers after the last follow-up survey at interventional schools compared to the controls. This study warrants the need of sustainable participation of school community for dengue control. Therefore, strengthening Environmental Pioneer Programme will improve the capacity in dengue control interventions.