Background: Rabies is a deadly Zoonotic disease caused by RNA virus Lyssa virus Type 1, most often transmitted to humans through a dog bite. As it is a fatal disease, most of these deaths could be prevented through post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), including immediate wound washing, rabies immunoglobulin administration and vaccination. Various myths and socio cultural practices causes hindrance for rabies control and prevention.

Aim & Objectives: To study epidemiological profile of dog bite cases attending anti rabies clinic attached to SMS medical College, Jaipur and pretreatment practices adopted by them following animal bite.

Materials and Methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted at Anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) center of SMS Medical College, Jaipur. A total of 150 cases were interviewed by using pre designed pre tested structured questionnaire.

Results: A total of 150 dog bite cases were surveyed in the present study. Most of the cases belonged to the age group 5-25 years. The proportion of male victims were higher compared to the female victims. Majority (62.5%) of the bites were by pet dogs. Lower limbs were the most common biting sites in majority (83.2%) of the cases. and only 6.2% had washed the wound with soap and water.

Conclusions: With immediate pre treatment knowledge and post exposure treatment prevention of rabies is virtually assured. There is a strong need for generating awareness in public and community about rabies and animal bite.

Keywords: Dog bite, post-exposure prophylaxis, immediate wound washing, anti rabies vaccination.

1. Sheetal V, Kinnari G, Gneyaa B, Hemant T. Animal Bite Management Practices: Study At Three Municipal Corporation Hospitals Of Ahmedabad. National J Community Med. 2010;1(2):75-8.
2. Chowdhury R, Mukherjee A, Naskar S, Lahiri SK. A study on knowledge of animal bite management and rabies immunization among interns of government medical college in Kolkata. Int J Med Public Health. 2013;3(1):17-20.
3. World Health Organization. WHO expert consultation on rabies-second report [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2016 Feb 10]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/ 85346/1/9789240690943_eng.pdf.
4. Singh US, Choudhary SK. Knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practice study on dog bites and its management in the context of prevention of rabies in a rural community of Gujarat. Indian J Community Med. 2005;30(3):81-3.
5. Rasania S K, Bhalla S, Khandekar J, Pathi S, Matta S, Singh S, Post exposure management of animal bite cases attending a primary health center of Delhi. J Commun Dis. 2004 Sep;36(3):195-8.
6. Shetty R A, Chaturvedi S, Singh Z, Profile of animal bite cases in Pune. J Commun Dis. 2005 Mar;37(1):66-72.
7. Sudarshan MK, Mahendra BJ, Madhusudana SN, Ashwoath Narayana DH, Rahman A, Rao NS, XMeslin F, Lobo D, Ravikumar K, Gangaboraiah An epidemiological study of animal bites in India: results of a WHO sponsored national multi-centric rabies survey: J Commun Dis. 2006 Mar;38(1):32-9.
8. Rozario Menezes, Rabies in India: CMAJ. 2008 February 26; 178(5): 564–566.
9. Sharma A L, Bhuvar P A, Bhavalkar J S, Pawar S N, Profile of management of animal bite cases among rural population in district Pune, Maharashtra. Indian J Public Health. 2007 Jan- Mar;51(1):62-3.
10. Bharadva N, Mehta S, Yerpude P, Jogdand K, Trivedi K. Epidemiology of Animal Bite Cases Attending Tertiary Health Care Centre of Bhuj City of India: A Cross- Sectional Study. International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies. 2015; 2(9):98-102.
11. Bhargava A, Deshmukh R, Ghosh T K, Goswami A, Prasannaraj P, Marfatia SP, Sudarshan MK, Profile and characteristics of animals bites in India. J Assoc Physicians India. 1996 Jan;44(1):37-8.

Govardhan Meena

Professor, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India