Epidemiological characteristics and surveillance of animal bite injuries, in Kerman city, Iran.

Background: Animal bites are a major threat to human health. The present study was designed to determine the incidence and epidemiological factors and to investigate the process of referral and treatment of animal bite cases in Kerman city.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study. All the cases of animal bites that were referred to rabies treatment and prevention centers under the coverage of Kerman health center during 2019 and 2021 were investigated. The data were collected from the health center of Kerman city in Excel form that was registered in the portal of the Ministry of Health. The Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used in SPSS24 software to analyze the data.

Results: In this study, 5407 people (4076 men and 1331 women) were bitten by animals. The average incidence of animal bites was 313 per hundred thousand people. The mean ± SD age of the injured was 31.38 ± 17.72 years. 73.2% of cases of attacking animals were dogs, and half of those dogs had owners. 58.6% of cases were injured in the hand, and 94.2% referred to rabies treatment and prevention centers in the first 48 h after the bite. No cases of animal-bitten deaths were reported during this period. Between gender (P = 0.006), age (P = 0.013), place of residence (P = 0.003), occupation (P < 0.000), history of previous bites and vaccinations (P = 0.001), and injured limb (P < 0.000) and not going to receive the next round of vaccinations, there was a statistically significant correlation.

Conclusion: Animal bites are a major health problem in Kerman, and due to creating health problems and economic losses, it is necessary to take serious action to control and prevent this health threat.