title: Pre-treatment practices among patients attending an Animal Bite Management clinic at a primary health centre in Haryana, North India.
abstract: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Animal Bite Management (ABM) clinic in a primary health centre in the Faridabad district of Haryana. Information about socio-demographic characteristics, animal bite exposure and pre-treatment practices was obtained. Clinical examination determined the severity of the bite. All 619 patients who reported to the ABM clinic during January 2011 to December 2012 were included. Out of the total, 38% had applied chilli-oil paste, and 4% antiseptics to the wound as pre-treatment; only 30.6% had washed the wound with water. There was a direct association between traditional pre-treatment practices and delay in seeking treatment for animal bites which was statistically significant (P = 0.01). Health education of the general population with culturally appropriate Information, Education and Communication material is therefore a necessary strategy to reduce delay in seeking appropriate treatment.
authors.affiliation: Resident, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Harshal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salve
authors.affiliation: Resident, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rizwan
authors.affiliation: Professor, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India skant76@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shashi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kant
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.affiliation: Research Fellow, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pradip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kharya
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Animal bites; India; Native/traditional treatment practices; Rabies; Rural