| dc.description.abstract | Animal bite is defined as injury caused by
animal mouth and teeth, resulting in direct
tissue damage, deep anatomical structure
disruption, introduction of infectious agents
and envenomation. Rabies is one of the most
dangerous viral diseases transmitted through
animal bites. In Sri Lanka, 26 cases were detected
in 2015, while 24 died out of them and dogs were
responsible for 75% of human rabies deaths.
Management of bite wounds is essential in the
management and prevention of complications of
animal bites. Lack of public awareness towards
animal bites is a major problem in prevention
and control of rabies. Objective of the study
was to assess awareness and practices regarding
rabies and animal bite management among
animal bite victims. Descriptive cross-sectional
study was conducted among randomly selected
187 victims of animal bites who attended the
OPD services of Awissawella Base Hospital. A
pre-tested interviewer-administered structured
questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive
statistics and chi square test were used for data
analysis and SPSS 23 was used as the statistical
analysis tool. Age of respondents ranged from
15-60 years. Among the participants, 59% were
males while 41% females. Among the victims
70.1% occurred due to dogs, 28.3% due to cats
and 1.6% due to rats. 95.7% of the victims have
washed the wound site with soap and water and
90.4% sought hospital treatment on the day of the
bite. Only 17 (9.1%) of study participants knew
microorganism as the cause of rabies. Knowledge
was unsatisfactory regarding other animals that
could transmit rabies and modes of transmission
other than bites (39.8%). Moreover, excessive
salivation was identified by majority (41.6%)
as a clinical manifestation of rabies in animals,
while knowledge of other signs such as altered
personality (24.0%), fear to drink water (19.5%),
fits (14.9%) were poor. Awareness and practices
regarding rabies and animal bite management
among the victims were not satisfactory. Public
awareness programs on animal reservoir of rabies,
modes of transmission and initial management of
the wound must be conducted in order to prevent
rabies and animal bites. | en_US |
