Epidemiology and trend of rabies post exposure prophylaxis at anti rabies clinic of a tertiary care hospital in India

Background and Objectives Effective prevention of rabies is possible by vaccination following a rabid animal bite. Objectives of this study was to describe demographics, circumstances of bite and the trend of vaccination over last three years (January 2019-November 2021) in an anti-rabies clinic of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods This was an observational study of prospective design. All animal bite victims who attended the anti rabies clinic (ARC) of the study institution during the study period were invited to participate in the study. Data was collected using a structured schedule on first visit and at 28th day to check for on time compliance to vaccination schedule. On time completion was defined as taking all vaccine doses on due dates. Distribution of variables was shown by frequencies and percentages. Indicators were recorded for three consecutive years. Year wise indicators were compared by chi-square test. Results Data was collected for 293 victims. Median age of bite victims was 41.8 years (range 3-78 years) while 58.7 % respondents were below 45 years of age; 71.3 % victims were male. 82.3 % bites were by dogs; 38 % victims had multiple bites. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) was initiated within 72 hours for 80 % victims and it was completed on time for 66.2 % victims. Three years trend for PEP indicators did not show a statistically significant difference. Conclusion On time PEP schedule completion was fairly high at the studied ARC. Health seeking for PEP following animal bite was not affected by the corona virus pandemic