PERCEPTIONS AND TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL WORMS IN RURAL BANGLADESH - LOCAL-DIFFERENCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOR

A survey was conducted on 131 mothers in rural Bangladesh to examine k nowledge and perceptions of helminth infection in relation to use of h ealth facilities and treatment-seeking behaviour. Almost all responden ts considered worms to be a cause of bad health and a high percentage of mothers had obtained deworming treatment for their children. Howeve r, marked differences were found in mothers' descriptions of the cause s and prevention of helminth infection in two adjacent areas; Pullakan di and Shekpara. The discrepancies in biomedical knowledge corresponde d with differences in treatment-seeking behaviour in the two areas. Al l households in the area had access to free deworming treatment provid ed by a health clinic, but this facility was predominantly used by wom en living nearby in Pullakandi. Because of the cultural and social con straints on female activities, women living further from the clinic, i n Shekpara, preferred to send their husbands to a pharmacy in the near by town to buy deworming treatment. As a consequence, these households were at a relative disadvantage in respect of the low exposure of wom en to health education and the greater financial cost of deworming tre atment. The study highlights the influences of social and cultural fac tors on treatment-seeking behaviour, which in turn affect women's expo sure to health education and biomedical knowledge of helminths. Furthe r questions are raised, however, on the ability of women to implement preventive measures and the impact of health education on rates of par asitic infection.