Adherence to Anti-rabies Post-exposure Prophylactic Protocols

There is no known effective treatment for rabies, and virtually all cases are fatal. Although the prognosis is poor in patients who develop rabies, the disease is usually preventable with proper wound care and post-exposure prophylaxis. Following a thorough risk assessment, the decision to initiate rabies post-exposure prophylaxis should be made. The risk assessment should consider the type of exposure, local rabies epidemiology in animals, vaccination history of the animal, circumstances of the exposure incident, and the availability of the animal for observation or rabies testing .

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have adopted guidelines for starting post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against rabies. The decision to start Anti-Rabies PEP is usually made in primary health care units or emergency departments .

Lack of adherence to these guidelines might result in unnecessary costs and medical risks, such as injection site reactions and systemic hypersensitivity reactions . This malpractice of inappropriate anti-rabies PEP prescription is not uncommon.

Inclusion criteria

• Physicians who treat patients with animal bites potentially requiring post-exposure anti-rabies prophylaxis. The sample will include emergency physicians, general practice or family physicians, and surgeons of both sexes, with varying degrees of experience and post-graduate clinical training.

Exclusion criteria

• Incomplete record filling