Background

Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in children under the age of 5 are a public health problem In Côte d'Ivoire. The objective of this study is to help reduce the incidence of ARI in children under 5 in 3 health areas in Dimbokro.

Methods

It was a survey Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KAP) about the members from 28 villages in 3 health areas in 2017 and 2019.

The heads of households selected according to a simple random sampling. Communities sensitized on public health problems.

Results

The sample was 630 households, the sex ratio 1.2. The average age of 48. Children 0-5 years old made up 18.2% of the population. In 2017, only 3.6% of women knew the risk factors for ARI compared to 76.9% in 2019. 23 % of household heads knew the signs in 2017 compared to 76.8% in 2019. At the end of the study, 78,6% of people knew the means of preventing ARI. Vaccination status increased to 85.6% in children 0-23 months of age. 76.3% of mothers practiced exclusive breastfeeding.

Conclusions

Good practices have reduced the incidence of ARI from 30% to 14.9% from 2017 to 2019.