Weyer Jacqueline, le Roux Chantel A, Kajese Charles, Fernandes Lucy
Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa.
School of Health Care Sciences, Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Medunsa, South Africa.
S Afr J Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 22;35(1):65. doi: 10.4102/sajid.v35i1.65. eCollection 2020.
Rabies is an untreatable and highly fatal viral zoonosis. Despite the ability to control and prevent the disease, it is estimated that one person dies of rabies every 10 minutes in developing countries. However, the true burden of the disease remains undefined in most developing countries because of a lack of systematic surveillance. Dog bite data obtained from healthcare facilities where dog bite victims seek medical care may provide an additional source of information that can be used to inform the burden of disease and identify points for interventions for improved delivery of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent the disease.
A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted using data obtained from dog bite registers and patient case files at a healthcare facility for a two year period (2015-2017).
The study reported frequency, demographics, source, geographic and temporal distribution of bite cases reported to a hospital serving a rabies-affected community. In addition, the post-exposure management of dog bite cases at this facility is described.
Dog bites was not an infrequently reported at the healthcare facility, with up to 29 cases reported in a month during the study period. The affected population was defined and it is motivated that this information is useful for targeted health interventions. Findings related to the delivery of PEP may also be used to direct training and re-training of healthcare workers for improved delivery of PEP.
狂犬病是一种无法治疗且致死率极高的病毒性人畜共患病。尽管有能力控制和预防该疾病，但据估计，在发展中国家每10分钟就有一人死于狂犬病。然而，由于缺乏系统监测，大多数发展中国家该疾病的实际负担仍不明确。从狗咬伤受害者寻求医疗救治的医疗机构获取的狗咬数据，可能会提供额外的信息来源，可用于了解疾病负担，并确定干预点，以改善暴露后预防（PEP）的提供情况，从而预防该疾病。
利用一家医疗机构两年期间（2015 - 2017年）从狗咬登记册和患者病历中获得的数据，开展了一项描述性流行病学研究。
该研究报告了向一家为受狂犬病影响社区服务的医院报告的咬伤病例的频率、人口统计学特征、来源、地理和时间分布。此外，还描述了该机构对狗咬病例的暴露后管理情况。
在该医疗机构，狗咬事件并非不常报告，在研究期间一个月内报告的病例多达29例。确定了受影响人群，认为这些信息有助于开展有针对性的健康干预措施。与PEP提供情况相关的研究结果也可用于指导对医护人员的培训和再培训，以改善PEP的提供。
