Student capacity building of dengue prevention and control: A study of an Islamic school, Southern Thailand

Abstract

Dengue has been a critical problem for an Islamic School, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Southern Thailand. Objectives: 1) to build student capacity; and 2) to evaluate the results of student capacity building. Method: Participatory Action Research: PAR was applied in three phases: 1) the school-based preparation phase; 2) the process of building student capacity phase, and 3) evaluation of the results of the student capacity building. Independent T-Test statistical method was used to analyze student capacity both before and after the intervention. Larval Indices were determined through ratio analysis. Results: Prior to the intervention, there was no clear strategy for combating dengue. In this study, three groups were formed to build student capacity: a leader group, a non-leader group, and a support group. The leader group (48 student leaders), critical to the study, was set as a dengue club named “Eliminate Ades Aegypti, the culprit of dengue” which focused on eight sets of activities: “Dengue or Death”, “Seniors educating juniors”, “Reward for good answers”, “Dengue monitoring team”, “Youth to expel mosquetoes”, “Mosquito or busy”, “Garbage elimination of Pondok”, and “Essential doctors”. The level of student capacity for the prevention and control of dengue of a sampling of 308 student representatives of the Pondok (Islamic school) showed an increase after intervention ( (SD); 56.78 (17.06); 65.33(15.36) and different statistic significant (P < 0.001). The Larval indices ratio levels had decreased from the original levels (BI = 244, HI = 45, and CI = 26) after intervention (BI = 137, HI = 39, and CI = 19). Dengue morbidity and mortality rates were not found during the study. Discussion: Although there had been an increase in student capacity, a decrease in the larval indices ratio, and the absence of a dengue epidemiology index, the high risk of a dengue epidemic might still be found in the school because the ratio of larval indices were higher than the standard index. Then, the committed participation of students, school, and communities around the school vicinity is needed in building student capacity of dengue prevention and control.