Awareness and Participation of Lymphatic Filariasis Patients in Mass Drug Administration of a Gram Panchayat Area of West Bengal

Background:

Mass drug administration (MDA) remains one of the important pillars in the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF). In spite of its continuation for a long time, the acceptance of MDA is still not satisfactory.

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to find out the awareness and participation of patients suffering from LF about MDA. Material and Methods: The study was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in a Gram Panchayat area of Paschim Burdwan District of West Bengal. Altogether, 115 patients were identified by the flashcard of the National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control and were considered for the study. Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software.

Results:

Most of the filariasis patients (91.3%) had awareness of MDA. About 88.7% of patients received drugs in the last MDA campaign, and 78.4% of them also received counseling. Among the patients who received drugs, 39.2% were advised to consume the drugs in front of the drug distributors. Overall, 18.6% of patients did not consume the drugs, and the reasons were fear of side effects, dissatisfaction, and ignorance. About 22.9% of patients experienced side effects after taking MDA, and out of them, only one patient received remedial medicine. About 37% of patients did not encourage their fellow neighbors, and side effects of the drugs (52.5%) and non-satisfaction (27.5%) were the main reasons.

Conclusion:

Thus, MDA efforts would extend beyond simply distributing the drugs. Thus, health education, counseling about side effects, ensuring direct observation of consumption, monitoring of side effects, and availability of the remedial drugs are the need of the hour.