Lymphatic Filariasis, Household Environment and Human Behaviour: A Study among the Rural Population of Coastal Orissa

The present paper reports the results of an investigation into household environment and their behavioural patterns related to lymphatic filariasis in rural coastal Orissa, India. It could not infer any association of disease condition with any household environmental or behavioural aspects except the housing type and use of mosquito repellents. It is understood that it is not possible to identify individual risk factor for this complex disease. Most of the people within the endemic community eventually became infected, and no specific risk factors have yet been identify that predispose individuals to a particular type of pathology. This implies that control programmes must be aimed at community level rather than at individual level.