Passive Surveillance of Rabies Post Exposure Incidents in Goshta and Mohmand Dara Districts

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Published Dec 30, 2023
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Vol. 2 No. 04 (2023): December

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Mohammad Bayer Darmel
Hazim Safullah
Assadullah Dost

Abstract

Background: Rabies is a perilous viral disease that is lethal, affecting primarily warm-blooded creatures, including humans. Once clinical signs manifest, the illness becomes fatal. The World Health Organization (WHO) approximates that approximately 59,000 individuals perish annually worldwide due to rabies.
Materials and Methods: This disease poses a significant challenge to health and public welfare in Afghanistan, where there is close contact between stray dogs, animals, and humans. Our research was conducted in the Goshta and Mohmand Dara districts of Nangarhar province, employing the principles of passive surveillance and retrospective review. We focused on registered potential cases of exposure to dog bites in both humans and animals. The data collected encompassed patient attributes, such as age, gender, residency (village), place of exposure, time of exposure, animal classification (wild, stray or domestic), anatomical location of the bite, depth of injury, and administered vaccination doses.
Findings: A total of 17 human cases were recorded where out of the mentioned cases 12 belonged to Mohmand Dara district and five cases to Goshta district. In the studied human population except for two cases which were bitten/scratched by other animals (donkey and cat) all remaining were bitten/scratched by dogs. Only four dogs showed clinical symptoms of rabies. All victims received complete doses (5 doses) of anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) after exposure and were observed until the end of the research study, all cured. This study showed that case occurrence is different according to area and occurs more in males (82.352%) compared to females (17.647%). Also, people with an age of less than 20 years are more susceptible to dog bites. This study also showed that understudy populations are more bitten by dogs. A higher percentage of people are bitten in lower limbs. No predator animals have shown symptoms. The dog bites were significantly (P<0.05) increased during May-July compared to Aug-Sep, it means the exposure was effected by season. A total of four animal (cattle) cases of different ages were recorded in veterinary health centers, all bitten by dogs, none showed symptoms. Two of the mentioned animals were slaughtered before onset of symptoms and two remaining were observed no one showed symptoms.
Conclusion: The study shows that dog bite is the main cause of transmission in humans and animals, especially among the male sex including children and young adults. Amended surveillance and prevention of dog bite-related wounds, predominantly among children, are needed.

Keywords

Rabies, Passive surveillance, Dog bite, humans, Mohmand Dara and Goshta

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How to Cite
Darmel, M. B., Safullah, H., & Dost, A. (2023). Passive Surveillance of Rabies Post Exposure Incidents in Goshta and Mohmand Dara Districts. NUIJB, 2(04), 44–52. Retrieved from https://nuijb.nu.edu.af/index.php/nuijb/article/view/117

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