| خلاصه مقاله | Introduction:
The annual trend of animal bites in Iran is increasing, from 35.1 per 100,000 population in 1986 to 177 per 100,000 in 2013. There have been many studies on rabies epidemiology in different parts of Iran in recent years, but due to the wide geographic range, climatic diversity and different animal species in each region, as well as demographic differences in the level of hygiene and awareness of rabies prevention ways it calls for separate studies in different regions of the country. This study was conducted with the aim of epidemiological study of animal bites in this province to identify high risk individuals, risk centers, seasonal pattern of disease and timing of the animal bite and assist to officials and policymaker in planning vaccine and serum preparation, anticipate and implement intervention programs to prevent and reduce animal bites and reduce the burden of animal bite on the health system.
Material and Method:
The type of study is analytical cross-sectional. All people who have been bitten by animals in the geographical area of East Azerbaijan province from 2016 until January 2019, were extracted from the Ministry of Health
Results:
Prevalence rate of animal bite during 2016 to 2018 years were 225, 226.5 and 246 per 100000 population respectively. Prevalence rate of animal bite in the year 2016 was 363.72 in males and 83.16 in females per 100,000 population. The prevalence rate of animal bite in the year 2017 was 370.29 in males and 83 in 100 000 in females. Also the prevalence of animal bite in the year 2018 was 395.45 for males and 86.2 for females per 100,000. Most of the animal bites were reported of Tabriz County from 2016 to 2018 with 20.1%, 20.8% and 21.8%, respectively. In terms of seasonal distribution, most of the animal bites in this study occurred in the spring in 2016 and 2018 years and in the summer in 2017. The most common animal bites in this study were related to dogs .
Conclusion:
The results of this study showed that the prevalence rate of animal bites was relatively high. According to the results of this study, it seems that in order to prevent and reduce animal bite cases, educational and health intervention programs for pet owners, especially dog owners, with emphasis on animal vaccination, are necessary and health authorities should focus their budgets and programs on preventing and reducing animal bites, and in spring and summer, be prepared to provide resources such as vaccines, anti-rabies serum and human resources. |