Knowledge, attitude and practice about animal bite and rabies among victims attending a rural hospital in eastern India

Abstract

Rabies is highly prevalent in India. It is almost always fatal but preventable by

timely administration of vaccine and proper wound care. Rural population have

high disease burden. This may be partly due to lack of knowledge regarding the

disease. Objectives- To identify the knowledge, attitude & practice of rural

people attending in a rural hospital for animal bite management. Materials and

Methods- Cross sectional observational study with 119 patients (period

prevalence in February 2013). Results- Dogs were the main biting animal

(87.4%). Children were the main victim(47.9%). 21% (25) of the respondent said

that animal bite may lead to rabies. Neighbors were the main source of

knowledge (38.7%). Mean duration of delay in presenting to hospital was 5.02 days. Roughly one third applied

soap water to clean the wound. Attitude and practice was significantly associated with knowledge and

attitude respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion- Rural population lack enough knowledge on rabies. Targeted group

approach like educating mother and children may help improving health care utilization correctly.