Epidemiology of animal bite in Aq Qala city, northen of Iran
نویسندگان
1 Departments of Public Health
2 Department of Public Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences,
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4 Biostatistics, School of Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences
5 Department Health Education, Ale Jalil Hospital of Aq Qala, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
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doi
چکیده
Background: Animal bite is one of the problems of public health which has the potential risk ofrabies disease. This study was conducted to determine the epidemiology of animal bite in AqQala city from 2000 to 2009. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross‑sectional study,13142 cases of animal bites which were recorded in Rabies Treatment Center of Aq Qala Citywere entered into the study by census method. The data were collected from the registeredoffice profile of people who had referred to this center. The obtained data were analyzed usingdescriptive statistics (frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) andChi‑square test. Findings: Of 13142 registered cases, 72.1% were men and 27.9% werewomen. The mean age of the victims was 25.0 ± 17.8 years, most of whom (84%) lived invillages. Also, most cases of animal bite were done by dogs, (97.8%) occurred in legs (69.6%).Most of the victims were students (28.9%). The highest frequency of bites happened in spring(28.8%). The incidence rate of animal bite was 1222/100,000 people. The highest and lowestincidence rates were 1608/100 000 in 2004 and 1117/100,000 in 2009, respectively. There wasa significant relationship between season and the number of bites (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Theincidence of animal bite in Aq Qala city was higher than that in other studies in different partsof the country. Considering the high cost of antirabies serum and vaccination, it is essential totake necessary measures reduce the incidence of this problem.
