A Retrospective Study on Rabies and Assessment of community awareness, attitude and practices in and around Asella town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Adugna Geresu Wake, Takele Tesgera Hurisa, Yonas Gizaw Habtemichael and Teshale Sori

Rabies is one of the major public health problems in most parts of the developing world, where the domestic dogs and other animals play a principal role as a reservoir and transmitter of the disease to humans. This study aimed at retrospectively investigating occurrence human exposure to suspected rabid animals in Asella and surrounding. In addition, a questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the community about the rabies from February 2022 to June 2022. A total of 634 human bite cases were recorded from 2020 to 2022. Of these, 261 (41.17%; 95% CI: 37.31 – 45.11) were female while the remaining 373 (58.83%; 95% CI: 54.89 – 62.69) were male. The majority of the victims (55.05%; 95% CI: 51.08 – 58.97) were children less than 15 years of age followed by youth aged 16 – 30 years (26.66%; 95% CI: 23.25 – 30.28), individuals aged 31 – 45 years (11.83%; 95% CI: 9.41 – 14.60), those aged 46 – 60 years (5.52%; 95% CI: 3.87 – 7.59) and those older than 65 years (0.95%; 95% CI: 0.35 – 2.05). Among the 634 people bitten and started post-exposure anti-rabies vaccination, only 61.19% (95% CI: 57.28 – 65.01) of them received full doses (administration of post-exposure vaccine for 17 days). The participants have some knowledge about rabies such as its prevention by vaccine, the host species affected, the availability of vaccines for immunization and the fatal nature of the disease.

The majority of the respondents (85.00%) identified stray dogs as the main source of rabies. Thirty-four percent of the interviewees disclosed that rabies can be prevented by eliminating stray dogs while 34.00% claim that eliminating stray dogs cannot prevent it. Only 19.00% of the study participants had their pets vaccinated against rabies and among these, only 18.00% had vaccination certificate; 38.00% of them restrict their dogs inside their home compound either in cages or by tying. Of those participants who did not vaccinate their dogs, 64.00% disclosed lack of awareness on the availability of vaccine as the underlying reason while few of them did not do so because they did not suspect occurrence of rabies in their dogs. The present study revealed that rabies remains important disease in the area mostly affecting young individuals aged less than 30 years. The post-exposure anti-rabies treatment is not strictly followed. There are still KAP gaps regarding the mode of transmission, clinical signs, the deadly nature of the disease, and lack of awareness on the first aid measures to be taken after a case of suspected rabid animal bite.

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