Abstract

Background: Rabies is a fatal viral zoonosis and serious public health problem. It is 100% fatal yet 100% preventable disease. This article discusses epidemiological characteristics of animal bite cases and the attitude and practices among the study population.

Objective: To study the epidemiology of animal bite cases reported to anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) outpatient department (OPD), at a tertiary-care hospital, Nagpur.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at ARV OPD under the Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, a tertiary-care hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, during the period from May 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015. All the new cases of animal bites reported to ARV OPD during the period were interviewed using semistructured pro forma. Data were presented using percentages and proportions.

Result: About 70.6% animal bite cases were male subjects when compared with 29.4% female subjects. About 19.8% animal bites occurred in children up to 10 years of age and 2.3% in persons over 70 years of age. About 89.4% animal bites were from urban area and 10.6% from rural area. Dog was the most common (96.2%) biting animal, followed by cat, monkey, pig, and goat. About 56.7% were unprovoked bites and 43.3% provoked bites. About 61% had category II bite, followed by category III (35%) and category I (4%). Maximum (i.e., 40%) of cases was reported within 24–48 h of bite. First aid treatment was received by 63.3% subjects, while 36.7% victims did no management before coming to ARV OPD.

Conclusion: The dog is the main biting animal affecting most of the victims, mostly children and working population. The pretreatment management of wound was not proper; so, community should be made aware of local wound management and use of modern antiserum and tissue culture vaccine as post exposure prophylaxis.

Key words: Animal bite, provocation status, time of reporting, pretreatment practice