Publication:

Wound management and vaccination following animal bite: a study on knowledge and practice among people in an urban area of Pondicherry, India

Background Correct wound management and vaccination following animal bite prerequisite for prevention of rabies.

Objective To find out knowledge and practice about the correct wound management and vaccination following animal bite among the individuals in a selected urban area of Pondicherry.

Methods This explorative study was conducted in the field practice area of a tertiary care institution in urban Pondicherry. A total of 156 individuals one each from 156 households were selected and included after obtaining verbal informed consent. Using a pretested semi structured questionnaire, we obtained information on knowledge about wound care following animal bite and vaccination against rabies, and details of animal bite to any household members anytime in the past.

Results Only 19% of the respondents could name “Rabies” as the cause of death following animal bite. All the respondents had known about immediate initiation of anti-rabies vaccine following animal bite and its free availability in government hospitals. However, only one third of the respondents were aware of immediate washing of wound with soap and water following animal bite. The last one year incidence of animal bite was found to be 0.87% (6/682). Majority of the animal bite cases belonged to Class II (58%) and, involved dogs (88%), males (79.2%) and people from low socio-economic status (96%). All the individuals with animal bites had initiated anti-rabies vaccine within 24 hours of bite, however only two third had washed their wound with soap and water immediately following animal bite. About 17% of the animal bite victims had applied oil or turmeric over the wound.

Conclusions Incorrect immediate wound care following animal bite is a concern for prevention of rabies in this area. Health education should be strengthened on certain aspects like disease causation, wound care following animal bite and before coming in contact with a health facility to this population.