IX NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES, CHENNAI, OCT 2006

Dr. B. Sreelatha, Dr. P. Ramkumar, Dr. J. Ganesh, Dr. P. Ambikapathy,
Dr. Kamalarathinam, Dr. Aravind, Dr. L. Umadevi
Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Social Pediatrics,
Govt. Stanley Medical College and Hospital, Chennai

Rabies is an invariably fatal disease and is a problem of considerable magnitude in our society. In India, the annual incidence of Human Rabies is 20,000 (estimated), 44% occurring in the pediatric age group. The principal animal reservoir is dog (96.3%). Inadequate knowledge, wrong attitudes and unhealthy practices regarding dog bite, rabies infection and its vaccination still prevail among the general public. This study is undertaken to highlight the knowledge, behavior, attitude, and practices regarding dog bites among care takers of children bitten by dog.

Aims and Objectives of the Study: To

• discern the familiarity about rabies among the caretakers of children bitten by dog
  
• study their overall knowledge on dog bite
  
• ascertain the first aid measures given to children following dog bite
  
• find out their level of awareness of rabies infection prophylaxis and
  
• make recommendations based on study findings

This is a prospective, descriptive hospital-based study in 1450 caretakers of children bitten by dog who attended the Outpatient Department between October 2004 and September 2005. They were interviewed using a two page questionnaire. The results were analyzed using proportion test by way of systematic random sampling.

Though many (84%) of the caretakers knew that rabies infection was fatal, several (56%) were unaware that scratch of dogs were dangerous and need vaccination. More than a few (72%) knew that puppy bites were hazardous and a minority (32%) felt that bite from vaccinated dogs were harmful. Nearly three quarter (72%) of them did not know that the dog should be carefully watched for development of symptoms of rabies or death after initiation of post-exposure prophylaxis. Only 20% were familiar with the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis. Some (24%) of the attendees had a wrong notion that native treatment was equally important following a dog bite. A considerable number of interviewees (84%) practiced incorrect first aid methods to dog bite wound. Many of them (76%) imposed unnecessary food and other restrictions following dogbite.

There is a wide gap between the caretaker's knowledge and the already defined outlines. In addition, their attitude and practices about dog bite and its management are erroneous. The need of the hour is to spread the correct information regarding the same.

NCPID 2006 - Conference Abstracts. Pediatric Oncall [serial online] 2007 [cited 15 April 2007(Supplement 4)];4. Available from:
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