Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Chakh Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Economics, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Chakh Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Acta Trop. 2019 Dec;200:105156. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105156. Epub 2019 Sep 3.
Rabies is one of the most neglected tropical diseases in numerous regions of the world. Annually, 60,000 deaths have been reported, mostly in Asia and Africa. Dogs are responsible for approximately 99% of human deaths due to rabies. Consequently, incidences of canine bites are increased yet rabies continues to remain a neglected disease in Pakistan. The objective of the study was to investigate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) for rabies, among the participants from urban and rural population of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
Data was collected by conducting household based cross-sectional survey over a period of 5 months (from January 2018 to May 2018). Quantitative data was collected in the form of questionnaires to investigate awareness and knowledge of rabies among the participants. The questionnaire compromised of socio-demographic features and degree of KAP with respect to rabies management and control.
A total sample size of 434 participants responded in the study. Among them, 89.4% were found to have heard about rabies, 38.7% have no knowledge of signs and symptoms, 93.3% knew that infected dogs are the major cause of spreading rabies and 77.6% considered that the vaccination of animals is important for prevention of rabies. However, only 39.8% actively seek medical treatment at a hospital if bitten by a dog. From the 434 participants 61 reported dog bites, of which 68.8% (42/61) were male and 49.1% (30/61) belonged to age group of 6-25 years.
This study concludes that respondents have relatively limited knowledge, inconsistent attitude and poor practices towards rabies prevention and control. There is a high need of imparting knowledge to the population from multidisciplinary programs for effective management and prevention of rabies.
狂犬病是世界上许多地区最被忽视的热带病之一。每年报告的死亡人数约为 6 万人，主要集中在亚洲和非洲。狗是导致人类因狂犬病死亡的主要原因，约占 99%。因此，犬咬伤的发生率增加了，但狂犬病在巴基斯坦仍然是一种被忽视的疾病。本研究的目的是调查巴基斯坦拉瓦尔品第和伊斯兰堡城乡居民对狂犬病的知识、态度和做法（KAP）。
研究采用为期 5 个月的基于家庭的横断面调查收集数据（2018 年 1 月至 2018 年 5 月）。通过问卷调查收集定量数据，以了解参与者对狂犬病的认识和知识。该问卷包括社会人口统计学特征以及狂犬病管理和控制方面的 KAP 程度。
共有 434 名参与者参与了这项研究。其中，89.4%的人听说过狂犬病，38.7%的人不知道狂犬病的症状和体征，93.3%的人知道感染的狗是传播狂犬病的主要原因，77.6%的人认为动物接种疫苗对预防狂犬病很重要。然而，如果被狗咬伤，只有 39.8%的人会主动到医院就医。在 434 名参与者中，有 61 人报告了狗咬伤，其中 68.8%（42/61）为男性，49.1%（30/61）属于 6-25 岁年龄组。
本研究表明，受访者对狂犬病预防和控制的知识相对有限，态度不一致，做法不佳。需要通过多学科方案向民众传授知识，以有效管理和预防狂犬病。
