Abstract

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease affecting the central nervous system that kills approximately 59,000 people every year throughout the world. In India, an estimated 17.4 million animal bites occur annually which accounts for an incidence of 1.7%, and an estimated 20,000 human rabies death occurs per annum. The majority of rabies cases are caused by rabid dog bites. The present study was conducted to assess the awareness of MBBS interns regarding epidemiology, prevention, and management of rabies in a medical college in South India. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Community Medicine of a medical college over a period of two months among 107 MBBS Interns. A predesigned semi-structured study questionnaire was used to collect the relevant data on awareness of rabies. The information regarding epidemiology, prevention, and management of rabies among the study population was noted. Collected data were entered in a Microsoft Excel sheet and analyzed by using the software IBM SPSS version 26. The results were represented in the form of percentages and proportions. Results: The majority of the study participants were females 59 (55.1%) and the males were 48 (44.9%). The mean age of study participants was 23.2 years. Awareness of the causes of rabies transmission was 75.7% in this study. Only 60.7% of the study participants were having correct knowledge of recommended time for washing of wound after a dog bite. Awareness of the type of rabies vaccine regimen given by intradermal route was present in only 41.1% of the study participants. Conclusion: The present study findings concluded that there exists a certain gap in the awareness or knowledge regarding rabies vaccination and animal bite management among medical interns. Undergraduate-level teaching curriculum in wound care, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and PEP must be practically oriented.

Description