What is it about?
Canine-mediated rabies kills thousands of people annually in third-world countries situated in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, often through infected dog bites. Outbreaks often result in human deaths in Nigeria. However, the lack of data around human death prevents advocacy and resource allocation for proper prevention and control. To overcome the challenge of missing information, we used a ‘Bayesian’ approach, alongside expert-solicited prior information to guide multiple imputations, to see the probability of human death after rabies virus exposure. Of the 1155 cases of dog bites recorded, only 4.2% died of rabies. - The risk of human death decreased amongst those that were bitten by owned dogs vs. free-roaming dogs. - There was also a decrease in the chance of human death among those that were bitten by unvaccinated dogs compared to vaccinated dogs. Our findings highlight the importance of prompt and appropriate human PEP, canine vaccination, and responsible dog ownership in preventing human rabies death. Our findings show the need for innovative strategies to manage free-roaming dogs and advocate for responsible dog ownership to prevent as many human deaths as possible.
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Why is it important?
Our findings highlight the importance of prompt and appropriate human PEP, canine vaccination, and responsible dog ownership in preventing human rabies death.
Perspectives
Our findings show the need for innovative strategies to manage free-roaming dogs and advocate for responsible dog ownership to prevent as many human deaths as possible.
Philip Mshelbwala
The University of Queensland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Modelling modifiable factors associated with the probability of human rabies deaths among self-reported victims of dog bites in Abuja, Nigeria, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, February 2023, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011147.
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