Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding to rabies and its prevention and control among bite victims by suspected rabid animals in China

Rabies is a major public health problem and the incidence of suspected rabid animal bites remains high in China. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about rabies of bite victims in Wuhan, China. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1015 bite victims visiting rabies prevention clinics. We performed a face-to-face interview to investigate the rabies KAP of these victims using a self-designed questionnaire. Factors associated with the KAP were evaluated using logistic regression models. Only 56.85% of respondents knew that rabies is infectious. More than 20% of respondents thought that it is not necessary to vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies usually. About 70% of participants stated that they never need to be reminded to vaccinate when they were bitten. Lower education level (odds ratio [OR] = 3.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.65–5.38 for secondary school or less and OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.28–2.38 for high school or vocational school, p-trend<0.0001) was independently associated with poor knowledge of rabies. Respondents who had experienced two or more times of animal bites (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.39–0.97) were inclined to have appropriate attitudes about rabies prevention and control. Older respondents were more likely to show proper behaviors towards rabies prevention and control (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.33–0.58 for age group 31–60 and OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.21–0.54 for age group >60, p-trend <0.0001). The level of rabies KAP among bite victims in China was suboptimal. It is necessary to conduct interventions focusing on improving public awareness of rabies and ameliorating behaviors of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.