ABSTRACT
Introduction: To prevent rabies in animal bite victims, complete postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) with an anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) is essential. This study was done to determine the compliance rate of ARV in patients with animal bites who presented to the emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study done on patients presenting to the ED with a history of animal bites over 1 year (May 2020-June 2021). Categorical variables were presented as percentages, and quantitative variables were summarized using mean and standard deviation (SD). Results: A total of 122 animal bite (World Health Organization [WHO] Category II and III) victims presented to the ED during the study. The mean age of the cohort was 38.12 (SD: 16.4) years with a male (n = 67: 54.9%) preponderance. Based on the physiological stability, a majority were triaged as priority III (n = 119;97.5%). Most patients presented with dog bites (n = 88;72.1%), followed by cat (n = 14;11.5%) and rat bites (n = 13;10.7%). Two-thirds were unprovoked (n = 82;67.2%) and were caused by stray animals (n = 62;50.8%). More than half (n = 65;53.3%) of the bites were WHO Category III bites. All Category II and III patients had received the first dose of ARV at our center and category III patients received immunoglobulin local injection as well. Noncompliance to ARV was seen in almost a quarter (n = 32;26.2%) of patients of which forgotten dates (n = 11;34.4%) were the most common cause. There was no significant statistical variable to determine the cause of noncompliance. Conclusion: Unprovoked bites by stray dogs were the cause of a majority of the animal bites. Compliance with PEP remains low at two-thirds of the total. The most common cause of noncompliance to ARV was due to forgotten dates. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Systems-based practice, Practice-based learning and improvement. © 2022 The authors.