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Trends and Clinico-Epidemiological Features of Human Rabies Cases in Bangladesh, 2006–2018

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2020

Sumon Ghosh
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
Md. Sohel Rana
Affiliation:
Disease Control Unit, Communicable Disease Control, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh
Sukanta Chowdhury
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
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Abstract

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Background: Vaccinating dogs against rabies is an effective means of reducing human rabies. Methods: We analyzed 1,327 clinically diagnosed human rabies deaths and mass dog vaccination (MDV) data during 2006–2018 to quantify the impacts of MDV on human rabies incidence in Bangladesh and a subset of rabies death data (n = 422) for clinico-epidemiological analysis. Results: We found a positive and increasing trend of dog population vaccination (P = .01 and τ = 0.71) and a negative and declining trend (P < .001 and τ = −0.88) of human rabies cases (correlation coefficient, −0.82). Among 422 human rabies death cases, most victims (78%) sought treatment from traditional healers, and 12% received postexposure prophylaxis (PEP). The mean incubation period of rabies cases with exposure sites on the head and neck (35 days) was shorter than the upper limb (mean, 64 days; P = .02) and lower limb (mean, 89 days; P < .01). MDV is effective for reducing human rabies cases in Bangladesh. Conclusions: Creating awareness among the animal bite victims to stop relying on traditional healers rather seeking PEP, addressing the role of traditional healers through an awareness education program in respect to the treatment of dog bites, ensuring availability of PEP, and continuing to scale up MDV can help prevent human rabies deaths.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Type
Poster Presentations
Copyright
© 2020 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.