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Volume 14 Issue 2 (February) 2025

Original Articles

A Retrospective Study On Animal Bite Occurrence At A Tertiary Care Hospital
Priyanka Tiwari, Deepa Pandey, Bimal Kumar Singh, Meenakshi Agarwal

Introduction: “Rabies: 100 per cent fatal, 100 per cent preventable”- as rightly mentioned, but still it remains an under-reported and neglected zoonotic disease, endemic in many of the world's poorest and underserved communities. We analysed the demographic characteristics, category of exposure (as per WHO Rabies exposure Categories), post exposure prophylaxis received and outcome in terms of mortality in animal bite cases. Methods: This was a retrospective data analysis of animal bite cases that presented in the Emergency department (ED), of a tertiary care hospital at New Delhi from 01 January 2024 till 30 June 2024. Results: In the present study, a total of 273 animal (dog, monkey, cat, rodent) bite cases were reported, out of which 58.61% were males and 41.39% were females. 72.16% of animal bite cases were in the age group of 15-59 years, followed by 11.35% in the 5-14 years age group, 8.79% in 60-74 years, 4.76% in the age group below 5 years and 2.93% were 75 years and above. Out of 273 animal bite cases, stray dog bites were 193 (70.69%), pet dog bites were 33 (12.09%), monkey bite cases were 14 (5.13%), cat bite cases were 24 (8.79%), rodent bites were 09 (3.30%). Depending on the Category of exposure, we found 16.48% belonged to Category I, Category II were 63.74% and Category III had 19.78%. Categorising anatomically, 194 (71.06%) animal bites were in the lower limb, followed by upper limb 54 (19.78%). Animal bites on trunk were 16 (5.86%) and bites on head and neck region were 9 (3.29%). Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) was administered in 100% cases with anti-rabies vaccine (PCEC vaccine) & the route of administration among all was intramuscular. Out of 228 patients, all category 3 bites i.e. 54 patients received 20 IU/kg body weight Human Rabies Immunoglobulin (HRIG) or 3.33 IU/kg body weight Rabies Monoclonal Antibody (RMAb) at the time of initial presentation depending on the availability of the type of ARS. No case fatality due to rabies was reported. Conclusion: In a rabies endemic country like India, PEP needs to be accessible (both ARV and ARS) at all levels of health care as rabies is a nearly 100% fatal disease and is a vaccine-preventable viral disease.

 
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