A cross-sectional study of awareness regarding dog bite and its management in rural community of Maharashtra

Background: Rabies is an enzootic and epizootic disease worldwide. In India it is estimated that the number of death due to rabies may be 10 times more than those reported. There are many myths and false beliefs associated with dog bite. 99% of all human deaths due to rabies are occurring in the developing countries. The present study was conducted to study awareness and perception about dog bite cases in the rural area of Maharashtra. Objectives: 1) To determine the knowledge of people about dog bites. 2) To assess the awareness of people pertaining to rabies and anti-rabies vaccination. 3) To study the behavioural practices of people after the dog bites. Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural field practice area of a medical college, Pune, Maharashtra. Study was conducted with the help of pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire for the period of one month and people attending RHTC OPD were included in the study. All individuals above the age of 18 years were included in to the study. Informed consent was taken prior to conduct of the study. Results: Total 144 participants included in the study, 75 (52%) were females and rest were males 48%. Out of these 111 (77%) were aware about dog bite causes disease and among these 52 (46.8%) were aware that dog bite causes rabies. Among the participants, 138 (95.8%) were aware about the vaccine availability and 125 (90.5%) knew vaccine is available in Government Hospital. In the study 88% of dog bite victims received treatment. Conclusions: There is lack of awareness regarding dog bite and its management among the rural population.