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

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Aug 9;16(8):e0010634. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010634. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Abstract

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.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bangladesh / epidemiology
  • Bites and Stings*
  • Dog Diseases* / prevention & control
  • Dogs
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Humans
  • Rabies Vaccines*
  • Rabies* / epidemiology
  • Rabies* / prevention & control
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Urban Population

Substances

  • Rabies Vaccines

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.