Profile of Dog Bite Cases attending M.C.D. Dispensary at Alipur, Delhi

Abstract

Research question: What is the profile of dog bite cases who attend M.C.D. dispensary at Alipur, Delhi? Objectives: 1. To study the epidemiological characteristics of dog bite injuries.2. To study the knowledge, attitude and practices of the subjects regarding dog bite. Study design: Cross-sectional. Setting: M.C.D. dispensary at village Alipur. Participants: All the 313 dog bite cases who attended the dispensary to receive anti-rabies post exposure immunization. Statistical analysis: Proportions, chi-square test. Results: Out of a total of 313 cases of dog bite 69.9% were males. 53.9% of the cases were accounted for by those less than 15 years of age. 82.75% of the victim? suffered from class III exposures. Extremities were involved in majority (88.17%). In majority of the cases the bite was unprovoked. Children less than 15 years of age were more likely to provoke a dog (p less than 0.05). Maximum of 27.79% of the bites occurred during May-June. 73.80% were bitten by a stray dog. Only 31.03% of the victims reported for treatment within 24 hours. 85.62% had applied chilly paste on the wound. Half of the subjects mentioned that a person could go mad after being bitten by a dog. 68.05% did nothing to control freely roaming dogs that had bitten. Only 2 subjects had reported the matter to the concerned authority.