Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Aug 26;20(1):1293. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09388-9.
This study aimed to assess the extent of knowledge and understanding of rabies disease in rural and urban communities of Pakistan. It also identified malpractices after suspected dog bite that might pose a risk for humans contracting rabies.
A cross-sectional study was conducted (n = 1466) on people having different age groups and educational levels in four different geographic regions of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan. Knowledge, attitude, and practices of people were assessed using a structured questionnaire. We used a bivariate and multivariate analysis to study the association between rabies related mortalities in near or extended family members and different risk behaviors.
Our results demonstrate that the majority of the juvenile population (less than 18 years of age) were not aware of the clinical signs of rabies in animals. 75% of the total respondents were not vaccinated against rabies, 60% did not seek a doctor's advice after a suspected animal bite, and 55% had inadequate health care facilities for rabies patients in local hospitals. Respondents that had pets at home had not vaccinated (38%; p < 0.05; odds ratio 1.58) themselves against rabies due to lack of knowledge and awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis for rabies (51%; p < 0.05; odds ratio 1.25). They also tend to not visit doctor after suspected bite (52%; p < 0.05; odds ratio 1.97), which may had resulted in more deaths (65%; p < 0.05; odds ratio 1.73) of someone in their near or extended family due to rabies.
Lack of knowledge about the nature of rabies disease and prophylaxis has contributed to increase of rabies related deaths. Inadequate health care facilities and poor attitude of not seeking medical attention after suspected dog bite are the major reasons of rabies related deaths. These findings could help in devising a targeted management strategy and awareness program to control and reduce the incidence of human rabies related deaths in Pakistan.
本研究旨在评估巴基斯坦农村和城市社区对狂犬病的认识和理解程度。它还确定了疑似被狗咬伤后的不良做法，这些做法可能会对人类感染狂犬病造成风险。
在巴基斯坦旁遮普省和开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省的四个不同地理区域，对不同年龄组和教育水平的人群进行了一项横断面研究（n=1466）。使用结构化问卷评估人们的知识、态度和做法。我们使用双变量和多变量分析来研究近亲和远亲成员中与狂犬病相关的死亡率与不同风险行为之间的关联。
我们的研究结果表明，大多数未成年人群（18 岁以下）不知道动物狂犬病的临床症状。75%的总受访者未接种狂犬病疫苗，60%的人在疑似动物咬伤后未咨询医生，55%的人当地医院对狂犬病患者的医疗保健设施不足。家中有宠物的受访者由于缺乏对狂犬病暴露前预防的了解和认识，自己未接种狂犬病疫苗（38%；p<0.05；优势比 1.58）。他们也往往在疑似咬伤后不去看医生（52%；p<0.05；优势比 1.97），这可能导致他们近亲和远亲中因狂犬病而死亡的人数增加（65%；p<0.05；优势比 1.73）。
缺乏对狂犬病性质和预防的了解是导致狂犬病相关死亡增加的原因。医疗保健设施不足和疑似被狗咬伤后不寻求医疗注意的不良态度是狂犬病相关死亡的主要原因。这些发现可以帮助制定有针对性的管理策略和宣传计划，以控制和减少巴基斯坦与人类狂犬病相关的死亡人数。
