Epidemiological Characteristics, Injuries, and Rabies Post-exposure Prophylaxis among Children in Kerman County, Iran During 2019-2021

Animal bites are important in all ages because of the physical and psychological damage, wound infection, and the risk of transmitting rabies. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of animal bites, injuries, and surveillance of animal-bite injuries among children under 12 years who visited rabies treatment and prevention centers in Kerman.

This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. Data about all children under 12 years old who had been bitten by an animal and visited rabies treatment or prevention centers in Kerman, Iran, during 2019 and 2021 were inquired. The data was analyzed by the Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test in SPSS24 software.

620 boys and 313 girls had been bitten by animals. The average incidence of the animal bite was calculated at 246 cases per 100,000 people. The mean and standard deviation age of the injured children was 7.68±2.98 years. The place of the child's residence and the location the biting happened were 91.1% and 89.5% in urban areas, respectively. 67.6% of the attacking animals were dogs and half of those dogs had owners. 42.5% of children had been injured in their hands. 31.5% of children did not attend the next round of vaccinations but came after the follow-up. The time interval between the bite and the time to visit the rabies treatment center for vaccination was longer in the second year of the study. (The delay for vaccination was more in the second year) and not coming to receive the next vaccinations was more in the second year of the study. There was a significant difference between the injured in the first year and the injured in the second year (p-value<0.05).

The incidence of animal bites among children in Kerman city is high, showing the importance of planning for control and prevention.