Liver fluke prevention and control in the northeast of Thailand through action research.

The aim of this action research was to enhance people's potential to prevent and control liver fluke infestation. The subjects were a total of 96 participants comprising 20 community leaders, 74 individuals handling and preparing food, and 2 officials from the Local Administration. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaire and the results of stool examination of the participants were recorded. The main methods used to collect qualitative data were focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. For qualitative data analysis, the researchers undertook a qualitative content analysis. For quantitative data, conventional descriptive statistics were used and the mean differences with the 95% CI before and after the study were compared. The results in the early stage found that the participants were not aware of the fact that eating raw fish might be the cause of developing cholangiocarcinoma. 94.8% of participants however knew that eating raw fish might be cause having liver fluke infection which can be treated be taking an antihelminthic drug. They perceived that it is way of life since their ancestors already consumed raw fish because they found it to be delicious. However, through participating in this study, it was realized how dangerous it is to get infected with the liver fluke. Participants also learned the life cycle of liver fluke. They talked about this within their families, and communicated as well as cooperated with others to strengthen a network of a club concentrating on not eating raw fish. The communities and the Sub-district Administrative Organization supported the project. In conclusion, it is advisable to improve the behavior of participants in villages so that they became aware how to prevent and control liver fluke infection and therefore the development of cholangiocarcinoma.