EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF ANIMAL ACCIDENTS AND HUMAN ANTIRABIC PROPHYLAX IN ITAPORANGA, PARAÍBA, BRAZIL

Objective: To evaluate the profile of injuries and the conduct of post-exposure human rabies prophylactic care between 2014 and 2017 in Itaporanga-PB. Methods: Records of rabies prophylactic care from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) were evaluated. Demographic and clinical variables of the injuries were analyzed, as well as whether the type of prophylactic conduct adopted was in accordance with the current Ministry of Health protocol. Results: Among the 245 injuries analyzed, the epidemiological profile revealed that the majority of cases involved men (57.6%), aged between 20 and 59 years, residing in urban areas. Injuries were observed to be 1.8 times more frequent among men with low education, with bites being the most common type of injury and dogs the main culprits. This type of animal showed an increased risk of incidents with men, while cats presented a higher risk of incidents with women. Of the total cases, 61.1% were treated with animal observation and vaccination, 78% of the conduct was considered adequate, 14.7% received unnecessary vaccine doses, and in 7.3% the immunization was insufficient. Final considerations: Improvements are needed in the processes of injury assessment, follow-up, and reporting, through the complete filling out of notification forms.