Profile of Animal Bite Cases in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mysuru

Abstract

Animal bites cause a big burden worldwide in terms of morbidity and mortality. As per WHO, dog bites are the cause of major animal bite injuries followed by snake bites, cat bites, and monkey bites. Annually about 55,000–60,000 persons die of rabies, of which nearly one-third are from India alone. Rabies, though being a 100% fatal disease, is also a potentially preventable disease. Objective: To estimate the proportion of animal bites in patients attending anti-rabies clinic of a tertiary hospital, Mysuru. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out during the period of June 2018 - May 2019. Secondary data was collected from the registers available at the anti-rabies clinic in KR Hospital, Mysuru, using a pretested proforma. This information was compiled in an excel sheet and analysed using simple measures like proportions, percentages, and graphs. Results: A total of 3861 animal bite cases were reported, out of which, 69.1% were males and 30.9% were females. Dog bites contributed the highest (92.1%) followed by cat bites (5.2%). As per the category of wounds, 59.6% were Category 2 and 36.2% were Category 3 wounds. Conclusion: Dog bite is the commonest animal bite which needs to be addressed as a priority with appropriate preventive strategies. There is a pressing need to create awareness among the general population about the need for timely health care seeking behaviour and to avail the benefit of free anti-rabies vaccination in the public health sector in order to prevent the risk of fatal events.