Current status of rabies vaccination in humans in Cao Bang province, Vietnam during 2018 – 2022

A cross - sectional study conducted in Cao Bang Province during 2018 to 2022, aimed to describe the status of rabies vaccination during that period. Cao Bang was recorded 11179 case exposure to rabies. The results showed that a total of 22,080 rabies vaccinations were administered, with 53.8% of the recipients being men and 46.2% being women. The most common age group taken post-exposure prophylaxis against rabies was 25 - 49 years old, accounted for 34.6% of the vaccinations. Dogs were the primary source of rabies transmission to humans. Of the animal involved, 72.0% of it remained in normal health condition. Leg bites were the most common occurrence, made up 58.1% and grade II wounds comprised 60.5% of the cases. Interestingly, 94.4% of patients sought early preventive treatment within 10 days of exposure. The rate of patients experiencing local reactions after vaccination was 3.64%, while 4.85% had systemic reactions. The majority of adverse reactions caused by post-exposure prophylaxis was pain (3.44%), while the most common systemic adverse reaction was fever (3.17%). Through the above information, we make recommendations for rabies prevention in Cao Bang province such as raising people’s awareness, especially for men, for children, management and paying attention to animals (confine, chain, vaccination, monitoring, etc.,) and when people at risk of exposure to rabies virus they need to go to medical centers as soon as possible for prophylaxis treatment and explaining adverse reactions after rabies vaccination is necessary to make people feel more secure.