ISMJ

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Background: Animal bite, particularly dog bite is a prevalent public health problem which has not been taken into consideration properly. Especially, children have less experience in handling dogs and do not consider the related dangers seriously. The aim of this study was to determine incidence and related factors of animal bite in children less than 16 years old in Bushehr. Methods: In a prospective survey, all children (or their parents) younger than 16 years with an animal bite were interviewed from March 2001 to March 2006 in Bushehr. Some information was collected from their medical records. Results: A total of 240 children (mean age 9.14 years, minimum 90 days and maximum 15 years old) were identified. The annual incidence of animal bite was 0.19 per 1000 children between 0-15 years of age. Animal bite was higher in 10-15 years old patients and its rate was low in younger children. The most common animal bite was dog bite (79.6%) and in 84.2% of cases the animal was domestic. Most of the children (65%) had single lesion. The affected region in under 5 years age group and ≥5 years age group were upper limb (41.5%) and lower limb (55.3%) respectively (P=0.0001). The prevalence of cat bite injury was almost two times higher in girls than boys. Also cat and monkey bites were more frequent in urban than rural areas. Inpatient treatment was required in 3 cases (1.3%). All patients received Rabies immunoglobulin and completed courses of vaccination (3 or 5 times according to animal being captured or escaped). No significant associations were found between the number of wounds (single or multiple), degree of wounds (superficial or deep), sex and age (<5 or ≥5 years old) with the kind of animal (domestic or wild). Conclusion: Dog bite in children is frequent. Since the cost of post exposure prophylaxis is very high for national health sector, preventive strategies should focus on public education, especially for children.

Keywords: animal bite, children, dog, rabies, domestic

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