Prevalence rate and epidemiological determinants of animal bite in Ahvaz County, Khuzestan Province, Southwestern Iran

• Main Authors: Hamid Kassiri, Ali Kassiri, Reza Mosavi, Abbas Jashireh, Masoud Lotfi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2014-01-01
• Series: Journal of Acute Disease
• Subjects: Prevalence rate; Epidemiology; Animal bite; Rabies; Ahvaz County; Iran
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221618914600111

Objective: To investigate the prevalence rate and epidemiological aspects of animal bite in Ahvaz County (western part), Khuzestan Province, Southwestern Iran during the 2nd half 2003–2007. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional investigation a questionnaire was completed for each victim. The questionnaire included questions like, occupation, gender, age group, attacker animal, vaccination type (complete or non-complete), bite place on the body, type of dog bite (stray or domestic dog), residential area (urban or rural). Data analysis was done by SPSS software using descriptive statistics. Results: The total number of 4 186 cases had been found. The highest number of bitten persons were in 2007 (1 079 cases) and 2005 (1 032 cases). The maximum prevalence rate belonged to 2005 (2.04/1 000 population). Also, Most of the victims were males (80%). Eighty percent of the bites were from urban regions. The majority of cases were related to 10–19 years age group (32.8%). The highest frequencies of bites were students (28.9%). Upper extremities were the most common bite place (61.4%). About 91.3% of cases were injured by dogs. Furthermore, around 83.7% of animal bites treated by incomplete rabies prophylaxis regimen. No cases of human rabies were observed in our study. Conclusions: The dogs were the major attacker animal, affecting mostly the age group 10–19 years old and men. Therefore, we should pay more attention about controlling this problem.