Introduction:

Dengue is the fastest-spreading metaxenic disease in the world and a growing public health problem in tropical countries. Low levels of knowledge of dengue are evidenced in endemic countries; for this reason, it is necessary to determine the level of knowledge in relation to this disease in Lambayeque since it is an endemic region with important outbreaks in recent years.

Objective:

To assess the level of knowledge of dengue, warning signs and prevention in residents of a district with a recent outbreak.

Material and Methods:

A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study with non-experimental design was carried out in 618 residents of a district of Chiclayo in 2018. The participants were selected by random probability sampling through multistage conglomerate sampling. An instrument was used to assess global knowledge understood by general knowledge, warning signs, and prevention. The Chi-square test was used to associate the level of knowledge with sociodemographic characteristics.

Results:

The results show that 76.2% of residents had a low level of knowledge of dengue and 57.4% of them had an intermediate level of general knowledge; also 45% did not know about the transmission of the disease and 34% did not recognize the etiologic agent. Fever was the most common clinical manifestation related to dengue, followed by headaches and musculoskeletal pain. In addition, 74.9% of people presented a low level of knowledge of warning signs and 93% had intermediate and low levels of knowledge of prevention measures.

Conclusions:

There is a low level of knowledge of dengue in residents of a district with evidence of a recent outbreak.

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