Epidemiological profile of Bite Cases Admitted at a 50 bedded Community Health Centre of Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Introduction: Animal Bites pose a major public health threat both in developed and developing nations. Death caused by rabies is responsible for 1.74 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) each year. The estimated annual cost of rabies in Asia is US $ 563 million. In India, patients pay for nearly half of financial burden attributed to rabies A total of 30 cases of animal bites were admitted in the hospital during the period out of which 56.7 % were females (p> 0.05 on Fisher's exact probability test). Majority (46.6%) of bites was due to wasp/bee bite followed by snakebite and dog-bite (20% each) and bites by unknown insect/reptile (13.4%). Most (66.6%) of dog-bite cases were observed in the age-group of 6-15 years, while 100% snake-bite was observed in higher age-group (>15 years) only. Majority was seen from rural area (76.7 %) as compared to urban. The average length of stay (ALS) of all the bite cases was about 1.8 days. Conclusion and Recommendations: It is recommended that regional strategies should be made for prevention and management of bite cases. The community should be made aware of local home management. The serum and vaccines for rabies should be made available till primary health centre level along with capacity building of medical staff. Municipal Cooperation should also play a sincere role in removing garbage from roads and catch suspected rabid and stray dogs thus controlling stray dog population.