Post-exposure Rabies Prophylaxis in People Bitten by Warm-blooded Animals at the Epidemic Treatment Center of Kindia Regional Hospital, Guinea

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of this work was to describe post-exposure prophylaxis to rabies in patients admitted to the CT-EPI of the Kindia regional hospital. Material and Methods: The data was collected retrospectively over 5 years 10 months (from January 1, 2014 to October 2019) and covering all usable files of people who consulted for bites, scratches or licking of mucous membranes or skin eroded by an animal warm-blooded, domestic or wild, showing obvious or non-obvious signs of rabies. The study variables were epidemiological, clinical then prophylactic and concerned the biting animal, the person bitten and the therapeutic regimen used for the prevention of rabies infection. Results: From January 2014 to October 2019, 415 patients exposed to the risk of rabies were received at the epidemic treatment center of the Kindia regional hospital. The average age of the patients was 25 years with extremes of 1 and 90 years and the sex ratio (M/F) was 1.18. The dog was responsible for most cases of risk of rabies infection (91.81%), the bite was the main reason for consultation (91.81%). The foot was the site of the bite in 84.34% of cases. A large proportion of exposed subjects (42.89%) were treated within 24 hours of their exposure. Almost all patients benefited from the Zagreb protocol with a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) discontinuation rate of 39%. Conclusion: Stray dogs are responsible for the majority of bites. The Zagreb protocol was used much more often for the treatment of exposed individuals to eliminate the risk of rabies.