Epidemiological characteristics of rabies deaths and knowledge, attitudes and practices on rabies prevention of people in some Central provinces in 2016 - 2019

Abstract

Rabies is an acute infectious disease that spreads from animal to human. According to the World Health Organization, there are about 60,000 deaths annually worldwide. The study aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics of rabies deaths in 4 years 2016- 2019; describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices on rabies prevention of people in some central provinces. Cross-sectional descriptive research combined retrospective method was used to study all 32 deaths from 2016 to 2019 in some central provinces. Research results show that in the Central region, the number of rabies deaths per 100,000 people increases in Phu Yen (0.97); Binh Dinh (0.43); Quang Nam (0.4); Binh Thuan (0.38). The time of exposure to suspected rabies animals increased from April to September. Rabies death cases were 15- 59 (62.5%) in ages, and male was higher than female (59.4% > 40.6%), primary education (59.4%). The time from exposure to the frst rabies symptoms was from 1-3 months (59.4%). The time from exposure to death was from 1 to 6 months (84.4%). Wound with grade III accounted for 81.3%. Reason for not to get vaccinated after exposure accounted for 62.5%. There were 53.4% of people have a good knowledge, 95.9% had a positive attitude and 61.0% have a good practice for rabies prevention.