PREVALENCE OF RABIES AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG SUSPECTED CASES VISITING NIGISTELLENI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, HOSSANA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Rabies is a viral disease that affects all warm-blooded animals. It is widely spread in many regions of the world. Human rabies, transmitted by dogs is an important public health issue in Ethiopia. The virus spreads through the saliva of infected animals and its natural hosts are animals, such as dogs, bats, racoons, foxes, and cats. Other domestic animals like cattle, sheep, horses and donkeys are reservoirs of rabies virus. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of rabies disease and associated risk factors among suspected cases of animal bite visiting Nigist Elleni Memorial Hospital, Hossana, Ethiopia. Secondary data of a consecutive five years was collected from the hospital record to assess the prevalence of the disease in the study area. This retrospective study was started by collecting the five consecutive years recorded data of the animal bite suspected cases from September 2018 to September 2023 records of the hospital. All people who were exposed to animal bite and visited the hospital for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) were included as study population and study participants from the record. According to the hospital data, the study confirmed that a large number of people were at risk of being bitten by dogs 96.39%. From the total of 65 rabies developed individuals 93.38% were related with dog bite followed by 3.08% donkey. Being exposed to dog bite was significantly correlated with higher prevalence of the disease. Most of the age groups who were developed rabies were younger people between the ages of 11-20, followed by 31-40. Rabies prevalence was found to decline from September 2018 to September 2023 G.C. drastically. The findings highlight critical risk factor for being infected by rabies virus was dog bite and the concerned bodies should have to improve to effectively reduce the burden of rabies disease.