Dados do Trabalho

Título

Epidemiological analysis of severe cases of human exposure to Rabies in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil

Introdução

With the highest mortality rate among infectious diseases in the world Rabies is responsible for at least 59,000 human deaths per year, with its majority occurring in undeveloped countries. Dog bites are the main cause of Rabies transmission to humans in the urban areas, and its prevention is readily achieved by animal vaccination campaigns.

Objetivo(s)

This study aims to analyze data from cases reported as severe exposure of humans to rabies.

Material e Métodos

Epidemiological data from human exposure cases received by the local health authority was obtained from the Health Department of Caruaru and analyzed by relative frequency distribution.

Resultados e Conclusão

Our study shows that among accidents reported involving animal aggression and classified as severe in the year of 2021 in the city of Caruaru, Pernambuco, the majority were caused by dogs (65.9%), and followed by cats (33,4%), with 91.2% of reported aggressions happening in the urban area. Concerning the type of lesion and the site of the wound, the data showed multiple (49%) and single lesions (45.4%) numerically close and not related to the type of animal involved. The wound site data showed that above 80% of the registered cases did not involve the extremities or mucosa, where the lesions are considered more severe due to the increased risk of virus migration to the central nervous system. However, among the cases involving extremities of the body (head and hands) or mucosa, the hands had the higher number of reported cases (46.6%), probably due to the self-defense attitude. Taken together the evaluation of epidemiological data showed that, the high number (1,356 ) of total reported severe cases of human exposure to Rabies, mainly involved dogs (65.9%) in the urban area (91.2%), and taking into consideration that no cases of human or animal Rabies was reported in the year of 2021 for the city of Caruaru, it is possible to demonstrate the importance of animal mass vaccinations as a means of Rabies prophylaxis in the urban area worldwide, and the necessity to continue to apply and improve policies for prevention of this fatal disease in Brazil.

Palavras-chave

Virus, disease control, Rabies, mass vaccination, One Health