PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Aug 2022)

Rabies healthcare-seeking behaviors of urban and peri-urban residents: Results from a rabies knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey, Bangladesh, 2018.

  • Yasmeen B Ross,
  • Mahbubul Hoque,
  • Jesse D Blanton,
  • Erin D Kennedy,
  • Md Sohel Rana,
  • Sanya Tahmina,
  • Sarah Bonaparte,
  • Jennifer R Head,
  • Ryan M Wallace

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010634
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 8
p. e0010634

Abstract

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Rabies is one of the most lethal infectious diseases, with those living in Asia and Africa having the highest risk of dying from rabies. We conducted a knowledge, attitudes and practices survey in urban and peri-urban areas of Bangladesh to describe canine bite rates, rabies knowledge, and healthcare seeking behaviors and barriers to human and dog vaccination. A bite risk assessment score (BRAS) and healthcare-seeking behavior score (HSBS) was calculated for each bite victim. Respondents were given two hypothetical situations to assess potential behaviors after a bite and willingness to pay for rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin. In total, 2,447 households participated in the survey and 85 bite victims were identified. The BRAS identified that 31% of bites posed no risk of rabies transmission. Multivariate analyses showed that living in Chittagong (β = 1.4; 95% CI: 0.1, 2.7) was associated with a higher HSBS. Findings presented here provide useful information regarding bite occurrences, healthcare-seeking behaviors, and a need for strategies to increase rabies awareness.