Knowledge and practices towards rabies and determinants of dog rabies vaccination in households: a cross sectional study in an area with high dog bite incidents in Kakamega County, Kenya, 2013

Abstract

IntroductionAn estimated 55,000 people die from rabies annually. Factors promoting dog vaccination, estimates of vaccination coverage and knowledge on rabies are important for effective rabies control. We sought to establish these estimates at household (HH) level and whether rabies knowledge is associated with proper control practices.MethodsCross-sectional cluster survey with two-stage sampling was employed in Kakamega County to enroll HH members above 18 years. A set of questions related to rabies knowledge and practice were used to score participant response. Score above the sample mean was equated to adequate knowledge and proper practices respectively. Independent t-test was used to evaluate the differences of sample mean scores based on dog vaccination status. Bivariate analysis was used to associate knowledge to practices.ResultsThree hundred and ninety HHs enrolled and had a population of 754 dogs with 35% (n = 119) HH having vaccinated dogs within past 12 months. Overall mean score for knowledge was 7.0 (±2.8) with range (0-11) and 6.3 (±1.2) for practice with range (0-8). There was a statistically significant difference in mean knowledge (DF = 288, p < 0.01) and practice (DF = 283, p = 0.001) of HH with vaccinated dogs compared to ones with unvaccinated dogs. Participants with adequate rabies knowledge were more likely to have proper health seeking practices 139 (80%) (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.4-6.8) and proper handling practices of suspected rabid dog 327 (88%) (OR = 5.4, 95% CI = 2.7-10.6).ConclusionRabies vaccination below the 80% recommended for herd immunity. Mass vaccination campaign needed. More innovative ways of translating knowledge into proper rabies control practice are warranted.

Rabies prevention and control practice and associated factors among dog owners in Aksum town and Laelay-Machew district, north Ethiopia: community based comparative cross-sectional study

“…Respondents who did not have any family exposure to dog bite were higher to have poor practice than having exposure history. This is consistent with the study done in Kakamega, Kenya and Hawasa [17,18,24].This implies having exposure history helps to have good practice towards rabies prevention and control. But everybody need to aware of prevention both before and after bite exposure.…”

“…A double proportion formula was used to calculate sample size by applying Epi info stat calc version 7. The following assumptions were considered in calculating sample size: 95% confidence interval, 80% power, 1:1 ratio of exposed to non-exposed group, OR of 2.7 and taking the proportion of P1=81.1% of urban households and P2=92.1% of rural households and multiplied by 1.5 of design effect and added 10% of non-response rate and then became 558 participants [17] (Table1).…”

“…A validated tool was adopted from previous studies [17,18,20,28]. Data were collected using a structured and pretested questionnaire by trained interviewer.…”

“…There is a scarcity of information on rabies prevention and control practice and associated factors among dog owners in Ethiopia, Knowledge on rabies, formal employment, higher education, male headed households, urban residence, history of dog bite and vaccine availability were identified as significant factors for rabies prevention and control practices in the studies conducted in Tanzania, Kenya, Hawasa, Addis Ababa and Bahirdar [13,[16][17][18]. Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards rabies prevention and control found to be associated with sex, age, level of education and occupation of study participants in Debretabor town and Debark district [19,20].…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding rabies risk in community members and healthcare professionals: Pétionville, Haiti, 2013

“…A 2015 surveillance publication reported that the rate of rabies in biting dogs was 7%; however, at the time of this report the community bite rate was not known [9]. This survey reports an annual bite rate of 0·9% (a comparable figure to what has been reported in other developing countries) [10–13]. The annual bite rate was highest in the 18–29 years age group and declined with each following age group (Table 4).…”