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

Charuai Suwanbamrung, Niran Tapalak, Charuai Jitchun, Chairat Promsuwan, Somjit Prosupa, Yoottapong Muenraj, Anan Dumpan

Ban Kank Community, Kumpangsou Sub-District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.
Ban Yanso Primary Health Center, Kumpangsou Sub-District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.
Communicable Disease Control Institute 11, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.
Islamic School, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.
Kumpangsou Local Administrative Organization, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.
School of Nursing, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2012.47059                

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.

Keywords

Student’s Capacity Building Process; Dengue Prevention and Control; Islamic School; Pondok

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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