Assess the Knowledge of People (21-40 years) regarding Dog Bite and Prevention of Rabies Residing in selected Community Area

 

Renuka

Assitant Professor, Kular College of Nursing, Kishangarh,141401 District- Ludhiana, Punjab

 

ABSTRACT:

Dog bite is defined as wound inflicted by a dog during which pressure is exerted by the dog’s jaw which leads to significant damage to tissues under the skin, including bones, muscles, tendons, blood vessels and nerves. Dog bite causes a contagious viral disease known as rabies. Early prevention is necessary to prevent this viral disease. The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge of people (21-40 yrs) regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies in selected community area, Dist. Ludhiana, Punjab. A descriptive study was conducted in selected community area (Kishangarh) Distt. Ludhiana, Punjab. A total 60 sample between age group 21-40 years was selected by non-probability sampling technique. A self structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of people regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics and presented through tables and figure. The knowledge score of people regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies was average. The study findings showed that 73.33% had average knowledge, 18.33% had poor knowledge and 8.3% had good knowledge. It is concluded that the knowledge among people (21-40 years) regarding dog and prevention of rabies was average. It is recommended that the study can be repeated on the large scale sample to validate and for better generalization of findings and Comparative study may be conducted to find out the similarities or differences between the knowledge of urban and rural people.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Bites should always be taken seriously because their effects can be fatal. Bites mainly occur with wild animals. The bites may puncture the skin and there may be wound formation. It results in further infections. In this condition the patients need the hospitalization for proper care and removal of poisonous substance which gets introduced into skin¹.

 

 

 

 

Dog bite is an injury occurred by dog which may be defined as a bite wound inflicted by a dog during which pressure is exerted by a dog’s jaw which leads to significant damage to tissues under the skin, including bones, muscles, tendons, blood vessels and nerves. A person is bitten every 2 seconds and someone dies from rabies every 30 minutes².

 

Rabies is a viral zoonosis fatal infection of all warm blooded animals which is characterized by acute encephalitis illness caused by rabies virus genus Lyssavirus in the family of Rhabdoviridae that causes various symptoms in humans like violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, hydrophobia, inability to move parts of body, confusion and loss of consciousnes³.

 

 

Rabies is spread to people through close contact with infected Saliva via bites or scratches. The main route of rabies transmission to human is the bite of rabid dogs⁴.

 

Community awareness about rabies is very crucial in rabies prevention and control. For efficiency increasing awareness, the knowledge gap among the community should be identified and targeted. Community awareness of all aspects of rabies is generally lacking or limited, such as first aid or management of animal bites pre and post exposure prophylaxis, responsible pet dog ownership, dog population management⁵.

 

Therefore educating the public about the epidemiological features of rabies, as well as simple preventive and precautionary measures, may help protect them and reduce the incidence of rabies⁶.

 

First aid to sick wounded has been practiced since ancient times. All the people should receive first aid training. First aid is an important responsibility of all the persons because there is a very limited access to fully fledged hospitals and dispensaries in remote areas⁷.

 

Community awareness about rabies is very crucial in rabies prevention and control. For efficiency awareness, the knowledge gap among community should be identifies and targeted. Community awareness of all aspects of rabies is generally limited, such as first aid and management of animal bites pre and post exposure prophylaxis⁸

 

OBJECIVES OF THE STUDY:

·       To assess the knowledge score of people (21-40 Years) regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies.

·       To find out the association between the knowledge score regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies with selected socio- demographic variables.

 

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Quantitative Research approach was employed for the present study as it is aimed to assess the knowledge of people (21-40 years) regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies residing in the selected community area, Distt. Ludhiana, Punjab. The non-experimental descriptive research design was used for this study. It also includes the various steps used by the researcher to meet the objectives of the study. The presented study was conducted in village Kishangarh, Khanna, Ludhiana to assess the knowledge of people (21-40 years) regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies. Sample consisted of 60 people of village Kishangarh, Khanna, Ludhiana and selection was done on the basis of non probability sampling technique used to select and collect sample.

PART A:

This part consist of socio demographic variables for obtaining sample characteristics i.e. age (in years), sex, religion, education, occupation, monthly income, family type, source of information, dog at home.

 

PART B:

Self structured knowledge questionnaire consists of 30 items to assess the knowledge of people (21-40 years) regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies residing in the selected community area.

 

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION:

Written permission was taken from Sarpanch of Village Malakpur and Kishangarh, Punjab. Consent was taken from the people who were willing to participate in the study and the information would be kept confidential.

 

ASSUMPTIONS:

The study is based on the following assumptions:

·         The people of age group 21-40 years have inadequate knowledge regarding dog bite.

·         The people of age group 21-40 years lack knowledge in aspects of prevention of Rabies.

 

RESULTS:

a)       Frequency and percentage distribution of knowledge score regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies

The distribution of people (21-40 Years) i.e. 60 according to knowledge score majority of people 44 (73.3%) had average knowledge followed by 11(18.3%) had poor knowledge followed by 5 (8.3%)

 

 

Figure 1: Illustrate that the knowledge of people (21-40 Years) i.e. 60 according to knowledge score majority of people 44 (73.3%) had average knowledge followed by 11(18.3%) had poor knowledge followed by 5 (8.3%).

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE 1: Analysis of association between the knowledge score regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies in selected area with their demographic variables                                                                                                                                                                   (N=60)

NS- Non significant

 

LIMITATIONS:

The size of the sample was small hence it was difficult to generalize the findings.

 

DISCUSSION:

Singh US, SK Choudhary 2005 conducted a cross sectional study on knowledge, Attitude, Behavior and Practice Study on Dog-Bites and Its Management in the Context of Prevention of Rabies in a Rural Community of Gujarat. The results revealed that all of the individuals were aware about rabies and 98.6% knew about its transmission of virus by dog bite. Only 31.1% would like to apply first aid measure and 36.4% will visit to doctor and rest either do nothing or adopt some religious practices to prevent the development of rabies. 86.6% of individuals were aware about anti-rabies vaccine and 24.4% knew that pet dogs need vaccine against rabies.⁹

 

Maganga Sambo, Tiziana lembo et al (2017) conducted a study on knowledge, attitude and practices about rabies prevention and control amongst a cross-section of households (n = 5,141) in urban and rural areas of central, southern and northern Tanzania. The result revealed that Over 17% of respondents owned domestic dogs,>95% had heard about rabies, and>80% know that rabies is transmitted through dog bites. Around 80% of respondents would seek hospital treatment after a suspect bite, but only 5% were aware of the need for prompt wound cleansing after a bite. >65% of respondents know of      dog vaccination as a means to control rabies, only 51% vaccinated their dogs¹⁰.

 

CONCLUSION:

The finding of the present study had implication for nursing education, nursing practice, nursing administration and nursing research.  The implication which had made in the present study is of vital concern to the professional and nursing research. The present study concluded that the people (21-40 years) have average knowledge regarding dog bite and prevention of rabies.

 

REFERENCES:

1.        Anand NK. Shikha goel. First aid. 2^nd edition. India: AITBS 2012.pg. 139-141

2.        Available from:https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=103620

3.        Available from:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/rabies

4.        Available from: https://www.who.int/rabies/en/index.html

5.        Reta T. Digafe, Legesse G. Kifelew. Knowledge, attitude and practices towards rabies in rural household heads of GonderZuria District, Ethopia. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc 4566865/.

6.        Mrudu Herbert, Selvi Thangaraj. Community perception regarding rabies prevention and stray dog control in urban slums in India. Journal of Infection and public health 2012. Volume 5. (page no. 374-380)

7.        Samant K. First aid manual accident and emergency. Vora medical publications, 2000.page no.1-4

8.        Reta T, Digafe, Legesses G Kifelew. Knowledge, attitude and practices towards rabies in rural households heads of GonderZuria District, Ethopia. Available: http:/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc 4566865/.

9.        Available from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/rabies

10.      Mrudu Herbert. Community perception regarding rabies prevention and stray dog control in urban slums in India. Journal of infection and public health. Volume5 (6)pp374-380

 

 

 

 

 

Received on 17.09.2018          Modified on 05.11.2018

Accepted on 30.11.2018     © A&V Publications all right reserved