Epidemiological profile and management practices of animal bite cases in a tertiary care hospital of Haryana: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Rabies is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases known to man. After the clinical occurrence of rabies, there is no comprehensive treatment possible. However, the development of rabies can be prevented to a large extent if animal bites are managed appropriately and in time. The post-exposure treatment of animal bite cases is of prime importance in this regard. India has the highest burden of animal bite and rabies cases in the world. This imposes a substantial burden on the healthcare delivery services of the country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the immunization clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Haryana from January 2018 to December 2018. A total of 614 cases were interviewed using a pre-designed, pre-tested, and semi-structured interview schedule. RESULTS: Around 80.5% of the bites were inflicted by stray animals, among which 70% of cases were by stray dogs. Precisely, 97.7% of cases took anti-rabies vaccine and 96.6% of cases took Tetanus Toxoid. 204 (33.2%) of victims were category III cases, who needed local infiltration of immunoglobulin but only 46% of them got it. The association of time lag between bite and reporting to the first health facility with socio-economic status, residence, and education was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: To conclude it was observed that proper wound management practices were lacking in the people of the study area and there is a need to strengthen the availability of provision of free-of-cost life-saving immunoglobulin at the health facility, under the rabies control program.