Abstract: Objective    To understand the knowledge, attitude and behavior towards malaria prevention and control among  primary school students and residents in Queshan County of Zhumadian City, so as to provide evidences in formulating control strategies for specific population and preventing imported malaria from re-spreading. Methods     One township was initially and randomly determined by geographical orientation (the east, south, west and middle area) in Queshan County by random sampling, where then one primary school and one administrative village were randomly selected from each township, from which 50 primary school students of grade 5 and 30 residents were randomly included to undergo the questionnaire survey. The results of knowledge, attitude and behavior towards malaria prevention and control were analyzed. Results     In the 401 respondents(149 residents, 252 students), the total awareness rate of malaria control knowledge was 47.76%. The awareness rate in residents was 64.82% , and male residents had higher awareness rate than those of females(66.67% vs. 61.67%) ,with significant difference (χ2=4.565, P<0.05), yet there was no significant difference in the awareness rate among residents of different ages (χ2=7.176, P＞0.05). The difference was significant in the awareness rate of residents with different educational backgrounds (χ2=71.432, P<0.05). Residents’ attitude towards malaria prevention and control was positive in general, and the rate of attitude-hold was 92.62%, whereas the rate of behavior-hold appeared poorer, which was only 47.43%. The awareness rate in primary students was 37.67%, and that was no significant difference in boys and girls(χ2=0.538，P＞0.05), but varied in students from different schools (χ2=8.616, P<0.05). The awareness rate was higher in residents than in primary school students (χ2=332.109, P <0.05) Conclusion     The rate of knowledge on malaria prevention and control as well as behavior-hold seems lower among primary school students and residents from Queshan County of Zhumadian City, though the attitude towards malaria prevention and control is positive in residents. Our findings suggest that health education on imported malaria should be continuously enhanced in following efforts in order to  consolidate the achievements of malaria elimination.

Key words: Malaria, Knowledge-attitude-practice, Queshan County