Social perception on urban rodents and sanitary risk in neighborhoods from Gran La Plata, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Synanthropic rodents, which are represented by house mouse (Mus musculus), Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus)and black rat (Rattus rattus), pose a high health risk. In South America, socioeconomic fragmentation generates marked differences betweenurban centers and peripheral areas and are associated with a heterogeneous record. The objective was to gather data by surveying inhabitantsof two neighborhoods with contrasting features in Greater La Plata, province of Buenos Aires, in order to explore, describe and evaluate theperception on the presence of rodents in domicile, peridomicile and neighborhood as vehicles of disease transmission. METHODS: An exploratorydescriptive design was used to make and conduct surveys following the technique of stratified sampling. The variables gender and groupwere considered to have the same distribution in the sample. The information was transferred to a database and analyzed through IBM SPSSStatistics V25. RESULTS: There is a common concern related to the role played by urban rodents as reservoirs and source of infection of zoonoticpathologies. The presence of rodents in the most vulnerable neighborhood was higher than in the center of the city. DISCUSSION: This studyprovides a different perspective related to rodents and pathologies associated, considering social perception and showing its importance formanagement and control programs.