A retrospective epidemiological study of human rabies cases admitted in Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases

Abstract

Rabies is one of the deadliest diseases known to man; it remains a neglected zoonotic disease throughout the developing countries. Rabies is an acute condition, 100% fatal and it is transmitted to humans through animal bites especially dog bites. Pre-exposure rabies prophylaxis is administered for several reasons. First, although pre-exposure vaccination does not eliminate the need for additional medical evaluation after a rabies exposure, it simplifies management by eliminating the need for RIG and decreasing the number of doses of vaccine needed. It can be controlled by taking post exposure prophylaxis following animal bites. The objective of study was to estimate the burden of rabies in Telangana state and to know the epidemiological trends of rabies. Retrospective analysis of human rabies cases admitted in Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases, Hyderabad during a period of five years from January 2010 to December 2014. Average number of rabies cases admitted in our hospital is 22.4 cases per year. . Adult men of age group 41-60 years were most commonly affected and elderly people of age group >60 years were affected least. Hydrophobia was the predominant feature of human rabies. Mostly people living in rural areas who have not taken the vaccine after the dog bite were affected. It was concluded that as the disease is incurable it is important to focus on health education to increase the awareness in the community about pre-exposure prophylaxis for high risk groups and post-exposure prophylaxis after dog bite.