title: Taboos Related to Dog Bite in an Urban Area of Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  India is known for its diverse social and cultural backgrounds with wide range of myths and misconceptions related to diseases/illnesses. One such belief is certain food taboos and diet restrictions practiced following dog bite, which is widely prevalent.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a community based cross- sectional study conducted among adults population in Anakaputhur area of Kancheepuram district. The sample size was estimated to be 275 based on previous study data and simple random sampling method was used for data collection. Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 16 and results described using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test was used for finding statistical association.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 84.4% of the study participants said that some kind of restrictions should be followed in case of dog bite, among them 68.7% said non vegetarian foods should be avoided. About 81 % of those bitten by dogs followed some form of food restrictions. Nearly 93.6% of those bitten did follow certain restrictions, based on advice of family members/relatives while about 6.4% of the study group followed restrictions based on advice by 'medical personnel'. Illiterates and those educated up to high school; participants with no history of animal bite in their family, were more at risk of having misconceptions (p<0.05). Pet owners have more misconceptions compared to non pet owners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reveals the existence of certain food taboos in case of dog bite among the study population. These practices and taboos are of no use and can be harmful at times. It is important to clear these misconceptions through appropriate health education measures for better health seeking behaviour and management.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Bharath University , Chrompet, Chennai, India .
authors.forename: Sivagurunathan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chinnaian
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Bharath University , Chrompet, Chennai, India .
authors.forename: Gopalakrishnan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sekaran
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Bharath University , Chrompet, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Umadevi
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ramachandran
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Bharath University , Chrompet, Chennai, India .
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Bharath University , Chrompet, Chennai, India .
authors.forename: Mohan Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Pandurangan
keywords: Cultural beliefs; Food restrictions; Misconceptions