Parents’ Attitudes Linked to Lower Dengue Infection Rates in Children in Dhaka

Children in dengue-endemic neighborhoods of Dhaka, Bangladesh, were less likely to show evidence of dengue infection when their parents held more positive attitudes toward dengue control and prevention, according to a cross-sectional study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The study, led by Claudia Ximena Robayo Gonzalez and Kate Zinszer and colleagues, examined how parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to their children’s risk of dengue seropositivity in one of the world’s most dengue-burdened cities.

Bangladesh has experienced a drastic increase in dengue infections since 2019, with a record number of cases exceeding 300,000 in 2023 and 102,082 cases in 2025. Dengue is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, and controlling it requires an in-depth understanding of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prevention strategies and how they relate to the risk of infection. The authors note that this association has been rarely examined in adults and even more rarely in relation to the risk of infection in children, which motivated the present investigation.

The research team conducted the cross-sectional study in four neighborhoods of Dhaka in November and December 2023. A total of 297 parents and 412 children aged 2 to 12 years participated. Parents completed a questionnaire covering their previous dengue experiences, sociodemographic characteristics, social capital, and their knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dengue. Children provided capillary blood samples collected via finger prick, which were tested for IgM and IgG dengue antibodies.

The findings showed that the median ages of the parents and children were 32.5 and 6.7 years, respectively. The adjusted seroprevalence of dengue for both IgM and IgG antibodies in children was 14.0 percent, with a 95 percent confidence interval of 10 to 19 percent. Parents’ knowledge, attitude, and practice scores fell largely in the intermediate range: 60.3 percent of participants were classified as having intermediate knowledge of the disease, 64.3 percent reported positive attitudes toward dengue control and prevention actions, and 62.0 percent had a high score for dengue prevention practices.

The central result was that a higher parent attitude score was associated with lower child seropositivity, with an adjusted relative risk of 0.77 and a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.60 to 0.99. Because this is a cross-sectional study, the finding reflects an association at a single point in time rather than a demonstrated causal effect, and the authors describe the results as preliminary insight into the factors associated with dengue seropositivity in children in Dhaka.

According to the authors, the study offers additional information about parents’ attitudes toward dengue risk and prevention and their relationship with children’s seropositivity. They suggest this information can guide public health interventions, such as dengue control campaigns. They also emphasize that a more in-depth exploration of the context will help to understand the cultural and social factors that shape knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Dhaka.

Subject of Research: The association between parents' dengue knowledge, attitudes, and practices and dengue seropositivity among children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Article Title: Cross-sectional study on the association between seroprevalence among children and their parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices in a dengue-endemic city in Bangladesh

Article References: Robayo Gonzalez, C. X., Nasri, B., Gagnon-Dufresne, M.-C., Saha, A., Pierce, L., Rahman, M., Mackfield, J. B., Zhang, Y., Barua, M., Rahman, M. M., Mridha, M. K., Ridde, V., & Zinszer, K. (2026). Cross-sectional study on the association between seroprevalence among children and their parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices in a dengue-endemic city in Bangladesh. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 20(10), e0014802. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0014802

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014802

Keywords: dengue, seroprevalence, children, Bangladesh, Dhaka, parents, knowledge attitudes practices, cross-sectional study, public health, IgM, IgG, mosquito-borne disease