Research in Human-Animal Interaction
Ichhpujani, R. L.; Mala Chhabra; Veena Mittal; Bhattacharya, D.; Singh, J.; Shiv Lal;
Journal of Communicable Diseases. Indian Society for Malaria and other Communicable Diseases, Delhi, India: 2006. 38: 4, 355-362. 8 ref.
Rabies continues to be the most feared of all communicable diseases. Despite the availability the state-of-the-art tools that ensure near complete protection against rabies, India has the highest rabies mortality in the world. A multicentric study was carried out between April 2001 and September 2002 to assess the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices (KAP) about animal bites and rabies in the general community. The proforma for interviewing the general community was developed and used after field testing. The study was carried out in six selected centres across the country (i.e., Delhi, Hyderabad, Raipur, Jamnagar, Coonoor and Rajahmundry) and was coordinated by National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Delhi, after thorough briefing of designated nodal officers. A total of 1129 (male:female ratio, 48.5:51.5) adults (aged 18-80 years) were interviewed. Of these subjects, about 75% had attended school at some level, while the rest were illiterate. About 68.7% of the subjects had heard about rabies, and 60.7% believed that rabies is associated with dog bites only. Only 360 (31.9%) subjects felt that washing the wound with soap and water is the best option. Application of indigenous products such as chillies (11.4%), turmeric (5.6%), lime (6.8%), kerosene (2.3%), and herbal paste (4.2%) was also reported, along with visit to an occult medicine practitioner (1.5%). People were not aware of the number of injections needed for the treatment of animal bites. Negligence and ignorance (n=354, 31.4%), fear of multiple painful injections (n=365, 32.3%), expensive treatment (n=169, 15%), and long course requiring daily visits to anti-rabies clinics (n=73, 6.5%) were cited as reasons for non-compliance to treatment. Results suggest that there is need to create awareness among the masses regarding the epidemiology of the disease and the advantages of prompt and appropriate post-exposure treatment through enhanced IEC activities.