Community perception about swine flu in an urban slum of Haryana: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Swine flu caused by influenza virus and it's a respiratory disease of pigs. The people like farmers and pork processors working in close proximity with pigs are at higher risk of getting swine flu. In India, a total of 117 deaths and 1,154 cases have been reported in the first two months of year 2018. OBJECTIVES: To assess the community perception about Swine flu among adults in an urban slum of District Rohtak. METHODOLOGY: The study was a community based epidemiological study with cross-sectional design and carried out by visiting house to house. The study recruited 500 adults of age 18-60 years. RESULTS: The study found that there was no significant difference between gender and age with heard of swine flu while education wise (p= 0.002) and caste wise (p=0.011) awareness of swine flu was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The study concluded that the majority of subjects heard about swine flu and majority of subjects said that swine flu spread after coughing or sneezing. The study recommends that health care functionaries should spread awareness about signs and symptoms of swine flu.