Awareness and Response towards Dog Bite Mediated Human Rabies among Healthcare Providers of Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Rabies is still a public health concern, particularly in developing countries. In the management of dog bites, immediate and initial assessment of the risk of rabies infection with appropriate interventions such as wound management and subsequent selection of prophylactic antibiotics is critical. Whenever a person is exposed to the rabies virus, it is always lethal unless postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is given immediately. Objectives: The objective of this research is to evaluate the awareness of dog bite mediated human rabies among healthcare professionals in Islamabad and their response to it, as well as the association between awareness and response and socio demographic characteristics. Methodology: In 2023, a cross-sectional survey with a focus on the healthcare professionals working in Islamabad, Pakistan, was conducted. The non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used to recruit a total of 305 professionals. To collect data, a structured questionnaire was given to every participant who gave their consent. The Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were employed to evaluate associations between factors for categorical variables. Results: Of the HCPs, 63.3% were male, 66.2% of the professionals were medical doctors and 32.8% had undergone rabies refresher training. Of the HCPs 51.1% had sufficient awareness of rabies and 42.6% gave good response towards managing dog bite wounds. According to the results of the multivariate analysis, professionals who were in 41 to 50 years age group, work experience of ≤ 10 years and having higher qualification were significantly associated with sufficient awareness. For response having higher qualification and attending rabies trainings were statistically significant with (P-value<0.05). iv Conclusion: Rabies exposures and fatalities are completely preventable when exposures are recognized and treated appropriately. All healthcare professionals must, therefore, have a thorough understanding of the most recent recommendations for the management of rabies. Healthcare professionals need the appropriate training and education programs in order to manage animal bites effectively. Also, they must be taught how to classify wounds and use rabies vaccines more effectively. Keywords: Healthcare Providers, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Rabies, Dog bites, postexposure prophylaxis