Knowledge about epidemiological determinants of rabies and its prevention amongst medical interns of Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India

Authors

  • Purushottam A. Giri Department of Community Medicine, Indian Institute of Medical Science & Research Medical College Medical College, Badnapur, Jalna, Maharashtra
  • Avinash R. Magare Department of Community Medicine, Indian Institute of Medical Science & Research Medical College Medical College, Badnapur, Jalna, Maharashtra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20185269

Keywords:

Epidemiological determinants, Knowledge, Rabies, Medical interns

Abstract

Background: Rabies is one of the most important zoonotic diseases in India. About 99% of all human deaths from rabies occur in the developing nations. Dogs are the main reservoir of rabies in India. It is invariably fatal if proper treatment is not instituted promptly. One of the important factors associated with successful treatment is the knowledge of the caregiver in the proper management of animal bites and rabies vaccination. Hence the present study was conducted to assess the knowledge about epidemiological determinants of rabies & its prevention amongst medical interns.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 76 interns of a Private Medical College in Marathwada region of Maharashtra during the period of September to October 2018. Pre-designed, pre-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered in MS Excel sheet and analyzed accordingly.

Results: Out of 76 interns, there were 36 (47.3%) males and 40 (52.7%) females. Majority 61(80.3%) were Muslims followed by 14(18.4%) were Hindus. About 68.4% interns correctly knew that the route of administration of vaccination could be either intra-muscular or intra-dermal (p=0.0220). About 1/4th i.e. 25% interns didn’t know about incubation period of rabies in human (p=0.0079). However, 29(38.2%) interns didn’t know about exact site of administration of rabies immunoglobulin is at wound site.

Conclusions: The present study concluded that there were significant gaps in the knowledge about prevention of rabies which needs to be overcome immediately with proper training.

Author Biography

Purushottam A. Giri, Department of Community Medicine, Indian Institute of Medical Science & Research Medical College Medical College, Badnapur, Jalna, Maharashtra

Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, IIMSR Medical College, Badnapur, Jalna, Maharashtra - 431 202

References

Sudarshan MK. Assessing Burden of Rabies in India: WHO Sponsored National Multicentric Rabies Survey- 2003. Indian J Community Med 2005;30:100-01.

Bhargava A, Deshmukh R, Ghosh TK, Goswami A, Prasannaraj P, Marfatia SP, et al. Profile and characteristics of animals bites in India. J Assoc Physicians India. 1996;44:37-8.

Mohanty N, Giri PP, Sahu D. Study on the profile of animal bite cases attending the anti rabies vaccination OPD in SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Orissa. J APCRI. 2009;10(2):23-6.

Balaram D, Taylor LH, Doyle KAS, Davidson E, Nel LH. World Rabies Day – A Decade of Raising Awareness. BioMed Central. 2016;2:19-21.

Shashikantha SK, Sheethal MP, Shashank KJ. Awareness among Students of a Medical College Regarding Management of Animal Bite in Bijapur, Karnataka. Natl J Community Med. 2017;8(7):421-4.

Chowdhury R, Mukherjee A, Naskar S, Lahiri SK. knowledge of animal bite management and rabies immunization among interns of government medical college in Kolkata. Int J Med Public Health. 2013;3:17-20.

Mishra N, Solanki SL. Assessment of knowledge about rabies in interns of Geetanjali medical college, Udaipur. Int J Community Med Public Health 2015;2:121-3.

Sarkar A, Bhavsar S, Bundela C, Gohel A, Makwana N, Parmar D. An assessment of knowledge of prevention and management of Rabies in interns and final year students of Shri M. P. Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. J Res Med Den Sci. 2013;1(2):62-6.

Park K. Rabies. In: Park K, eds. Park’s Textbook of Preventive & Social Medicine. 21st edn. Jabalpur: Banarsidas Bhanot; 2013: 251-256.

Praveen G, Rajashekar HK. Knowledge, awareness and perception of medical college students on rabies and its prevention. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2014;3:1484-6.

Vinay M, Sheetal MP, Mahendra BJ. Awareness regarding rabies and its prevention among medical college students of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya. J APCRI. 2012;13(2):13-5.

Nayak RK, Walvekar PR, Mallapur MD. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of rabies among general practitioners of Belgaum city. Al Ameen J Med Sci. 2013;6(3):237-42.

Downloads

Published

2018-12-24

How to Cite

Giri, P. A., & Magare, A. R. (2018). Knowledge about epidemiological determinants of rabies and its prevention amongst medical interns of Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 6(1), 337–341. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20185269

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles