Lyssavirus Type Research Articles

A cross-sectional study on knowledge of epidemiological determinants, prevention and management of rabies among MBBS interns of a tertiary health care center of central India

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease caused by Lyssavirus type 1. It causes 20,000 deaths annually in India. MBBS interns represent the physicians who will graduate and practice medicine from next year. Hence, keeping this in mind, the present study was carried out to assess the knowledge regarding epidemiological determinants, prevention and management of rabies among MBBS interns. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2023 to June 2023 among 200 MBBS interns of Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur, Maharashtra. Data was collected by the self-administered, pre-designed, pre-structured questionnaire and was analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software version 25. Results: It was seen that the mean age of participants was 23.34 (±0.859) years. The majority of participants were males (51.5%). The majority (80%) of interns knew the correct causative agent of rabies, while only 40% knew the correct incubation period of rabies. The majority, that is 63.5%, 85.5% and 75% of interns, knew the correct route, site and schedule of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) respectively. Only 26.5% interns knew the correct management of category I animal bites, while 74.5% and 89% knew the correct management of category II and category III animal bites, respectively. The mean total knowledge score among interns was 13.17±2.63. Conclusions: The study found that interns with experience in dealing with animal bite cases had significantly higher total knowledge scores. To improve knowledge, interactive animal bite case-dealing sessions and regular CMEs should be conducted.

A Study to Assess the Knowledge regarding Rabies Prevention among General Population of Community Residing in Chaudharywas, Hisar

Introduction: Rabies, also known as hydrophobia, is an acute viral disease that affects central nervous system, causing acute encephalitis in warm blooded animals including mammals. The virus responsible for rabies is Lyssavirus type I (which is derived from the Greek word lyssa meaning “madness”). In 2015 Haryana government has launched a programme to become the first State in the country to be rabies free under the National Rabies Control Programme. Method: The research approach used for this study was quantitative research approach and pre experimental (one group pre and post-test) design. The sample size was 60 general population of community. The tool used for this study consisted of three parts. Part A (demographic data). Part B, self-structure knowledge questionnaire consist of questions in various aspects such as general information, rabies prevention, (20 questions). Content validity of the tool was given by experts and tool found to be reliable and feasible during pilot study. PTP was given to the among general population of community following by pre-test and post-test was conducted 15 day onwards from the day of implementation of PTP, for those who were not available in the same setting for post-test, data was collected at their community following the addresses collected during pre-test. Result: The knowledge score 46.66% of subjects were male and 53.33% were female. Educational status 13.33% had no formal education, 15% had primary education, 28.33% had secondary and senior secondary education and 43.33% had graduation degree and above. Level of knowledge 13.33% people had poor knowledge (12 or < 12 i.e.< 40. 36.66% had average knowledge (13 to 18 i.e. 41-60%), 46.66% had good knowledge (19 to 24 i.e.61-80%) and 3.33% had excellent knowledge (25 to 30 i.e. 81-100%). No personal variable was found to be associated with level of knowledge at p < 0.05 level of significance.Conclusion: The general population of community knowledge is improve regarding Rabies prevention.

Epidemiology of Animal Bite Cases of Children Attending Tertiary Care Center of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru: A Retrospective Study

Background Rabies or hydrophobia is an acute highly fatal viral illness of the central nervous system caused by Lyssavirus type 1. About 30ndash60 of rabies cases and deaths in India occur in children under the age of 15 years. Bites that occur in children go unrecognized and unreported. In up to 99 of the cases inland dogs are accountable for rabies virus transmission to humans.Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological pattern of animal bite cases of children up to 15 years of age attending the anti-rabies clinic. Methods A record-based retrospective study was undertaken in February 2022 from registers maintained in the anti-rabies clinic ARC of a tertiary care hospital.Results In this study out of 656 bite victims upto 70.3 were male children and about 29.70 were female children. 65.50 of the children were between 6ndash12 years of age. 98.5 of the cases were bitten by the dog. Based on area-wise distribution most of the victims came from urban Bangalore 69.5 among them 34.8 were referred for rabies immunoglobulin where the vaccination status was unknown. 95.70 of cases belong to category-3. Only 29.4 of the cases completed the anti-rabies vaccine schedule. The study also showed that the majority of bites are reported during April and May.Conclusion In our study we found that the majority of the bite victims are school-going children and most incidents were during summer vacations. Hence more awareness to be given to the public and in schools for the primary prevention of animal bites.

Awareness of rabies and its prevention among adults in urban slums of Tiruvallur district

Background: Rabies is an acute fatal encephalomyelitis caused by a Lyssavirus type 1 is recognized today because of its global distribution, incidence, veterinary and human health costs, and extremely high case fatality rate .The large number of deaths due to rabies can be attributed to the fact that in spite of availability of effective vaccination against rabies, people are unaware of various aspects and its prevention. Objective was to study the awareness about Rabies and its prevention among adults in urban slum area of Tiruvallur district. Methods: The present study was a cross sectional study conducted over a period of 2 months between December 2019 to January 2020 in an urban slum area of Tiruvallur district of Tamilnadu. A Semi Structured questionnaire was administered to the study participants and the data was analysed by SPSS 16.Results: Among 295 study participants, Mean age was 34.73 (+or-10.26) years. Majority (38.6%) of the respondents were of the age group 20-29 years and 60.3% were male participants. 98.6% had heard about rabies and 83.7% knew that Rabies is a fatal disease. Majority (95%) consult a Doctor immediately and 65% knew correctly about a first aid after animal bite. 87% of the study participants were aware of antirabies vaccine. Age and educational status were significantly associated with rabies awareness (p<0.05).Conclusions: Most of the study participants were aware of rabies. Awareness was high among younger people and educated people. Effective health education shall help in rabies prevention.

Awareness about rabies and health seeking behavior among animal bite victims attending a tertiary care hospital of Jharkhand

Background: Rabies is an acute fatal disease of central nervous system, caused by Lyssavirus Type 1. Rabies in dogs is the source of 99% of human infection. Awareness about rabies and health seeking behavior are crucial determinants of rabies control. Present study was done to assess awareness regarding animal bite and health seeking behavior among affected population.Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted in central emergency department of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, Jharkhand for a period of four months. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Sample size was 114 using consecutive sampling method. The participants were interviewed after taking informed consent. Data collected were entered in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: A total of 114 subjects participated in the study of which 83 (72.8%) were male and 31 (27.2%) female. Most commonly affected age group found was 21-30 years (35.1%). Majority 101 (88.6%) of them resided in urban areas, and only 79 (69.3%) acquired secondary education and above. Most of the animal bite was caused by dogs 102 (89.5%), unprovoked 79 (69.3%) in nature and most common site involved lower limb 70 (61.4%). Majority 68 (59.6%) of the dog bite wound were of category II. Only 55 (48.2%) of animal bite victims washed their wound with soap and water. Majority 58 (50.9%) of the study participants had no knowledge about consequences of dog bite. Median reporting time to tertiary institute was found to be four hours.Conclusions: There was average level of awareness about rabies among animal bite victims attending RIMS, Ranchi

Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Non-Vaccination Of Dogs Against Rabies In Ibadan, Nigeria

Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease that affects human, domestic and wild animals. It is an acute, highly contagious and fatal disease caused by a bullet – shaped, enveloped RNA virus 180-75nm known as Lyssavirus type 1 and marked by a1mg and variable incubation period (Oboegbulem,. 1994). It is transmitted to animals and humans through close contact with saliva from infected animals. Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal to both animals and humans (WHO, 200l). In Nigeria where dog bites continue to be the main mode of transmission of the disease to man, it remains a serious public health hazard. (Thorne, 1954; Ezeokoli et al. 1984; Ikede and Adeyemi, 1984). Reliable data on rabies are scarce in many areas of the globe, making it difficult to assess its full impact on human and animal health (WHO 2001). Since dog has been established as the predominant vector of rabies in Nigeria, the most logical and cost – effective approach to rabies control is elimination of stray and owner less dogs combined with a programme of single mass immunization in the shortest possible time, at least 80% of the entire dog population (WHO, 2001). The retrospective dog rabies vaccination evaluated at Ibadan carried out by Adeyemi (2000) showed that there is low response of dog owners to routine control of dog rabies by immunization. Effective, practicable and acceptable control strategy can only be put in place after the socio-economic facts associated with dog owners in each community have been studied. This paper reports the socioeconomic factors associated with Non-vaccination of dogs in Ibadan city, Nigeria. Keywords: Owned-dogs, anti-rabies vaccination, zoonosis, Ibadan cityNigerian Veterinary Journal Vol. 28 (3) 2007 pp. 59-63

Public health risk analysis of European bat lyssavirus infection in The Netherlands

We present the frequency and the nature of contact incidents of the Serotine bat, Eptesicus serotinus, with humans and with companion animals (specifically cats and dogs), in The Netherlands between 2000 and 2005. Out of 17 bats in bite contact with humans, five tested positive for European bat lyssavirus (EBLV) type 1a. Cats had the most numerous contacts with bats (49 times) but a relatively low number of these bats were EBLV positive (six times). We estimated that the average incidence of human bat rabies infection might be between once per year and once per 700 years, depending mainly on the number of infectious viral particles in bat saliva. The risk of bat rabies is higher between April and October, and in the northern half of the country. This is the first study in Europe describing the risk of human bat rabies after bat contact incidents.

Pet-, animal-, and vector-borne infections.

1. Carol Glaser, DVM, MD* 2. Paul Lewis, MD† 3. Stephanie Wong, DVM‡ 1. 2. *Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley, CA. 3. 4. †Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR. 5. ‡Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, Grafton, MA. Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. They can be acquired via insect vectors, food, and direct or indirect contact with animals. More than 250 zoonoses have been described, and they are caused by a wide variety of pathogens, including viruses, rickettsia, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Some of the diseases are rare, such as rabies and plague; others, such as cat-scratch disease, are common. The transmission of zoonotic diseases is both diverse and dynamic. Although illnesses such as salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis are by far the most common zoonotic infections in humans and are transmitted most often by food, there is a small risk of acquiring illness from pets and wildlife. Because many pet- and wildlife-related zoonoses are acquired via fecal-oral or direct contact routes, the inquisitive nature of children puts them at a higher risk for infection than adolescents and adults. It is important for pediatricians to be aware of zoonoses, especially those related to direct pet contact, because approximately 56% of United States households contain at least one pet. Pet ownership has many psychological and social benefits and should not be discouraged, with the exception of households that contain immunocompromised individuals or children younger than age 5 years, which should not have reptiles because of the risk of salmonellosis. This review discusses the epidemiology, animal reservoirs, transmission, clinical syndromes, laboratory features, treatment, and prevention of toxoplasmosis, rabies, cat-scratch disease, Lyme disease, and rat-bite fever. Additionally, brief overviews of animal bites and enteric infections are presented, as are tables on zoonoses related to dogs, cats, rodents, birds, and exotic pets (Table 1⇓ ); animal bite-related zoonoses (Table 2⇓ ); and vector-borne diseases (Table 3⇓ ). View this table: Table 1. Pet-related Zoonoses View this table: Table 2. Animal Bite-related Zoonoses View this table: Table 3. Vector-borne Diseases ### EPIDEMIOLOGY/ETIOLOGY Toxoplasmosis has a worldwide distribution. The seroprevalence in women of childbearing …