Public perception and attitude towards dengue prevention activity and response to dengue early warning in Malaysia

An early warning system for dengue is meant to predict outbreaks and prevent dengue cases by aiding timely decision making and deployment of interventions. However, only a system which is accepted and utilised by the public would be sustainable in the long run. This study aimed to explore the perception and attitude of the Malaysian public towards a dengue early warning system. The sample consisted of 847 individuals who were 18 years and above and living/working in the Petaling District, an area adjacent to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A questionnaire consisting of personal information and three sub-measures of; i) perception, ii) attitude towards dengue early warning and iii) response towards early warning; was distributed to participants. We found that most of the respondents know about dengue fever (97.1%) and its association with climate factors (90.6%). Most of them wanted to help reduce the number of dengue cases in their area (91.5%). A small percentage of the respondents admitted that they were not willing to be involved in public activities, and 64% of them admitted that they did not check dengue situations or hotspots around their area regularly. Despite the high awareness on the relationship between climate and dengue, about 45% of respondents do not know or are not sure how this can be used to predict dengue. Respondents would like to know more about how climate data can be used to predict a dengue outbreak (92.7%). Providing more information on how climate can influence dengue cases would increase public acceptability and improve response towards climate-based warning system. The most preferred way of communicating early warning was through the television (66.4%). This study shows that the public in Petaling District considers it necessary to have a dengue warning system to be necessary, but more education is required.