| Autor: |
Kreindel Sm, Charles E. Rupprecht, Michael Mcguill, Alfred DeMaria |
| Rok vydání: |
1998 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice. 7:274-278 |
| ISSN: |
1056-9103 |
| DOI: |
10.1097/00019048-199808000-00008 |
| Popis: |
Using data from medical records, we evaluated the epidemiology and appropriateness of rabies postexposure prophylaxis in Massachusetts. The study sample consisted of 1151 patients seen between 1990 and 1995 in the Boston area with diagnoses or events of rabies preventive treatment, rabies vaccine administration and/or animal bite. Dogs and cats accounted 93% of exposure in patients who received prophylaxis. Forty-six percent of individual exposed to these animals started prophylaxis the same day the exposure occurred. In the case of 32% of patients who completed treatment the animal was documented as being available for quarantine and/or testing. Human rabies immunoglobulin eas not given to 18% of rabies vaccine recipients, despite a lack of history of rabies immunization. The study reveals that a large amount of rabies postexposure prophylaxis is administered to persons whose risk of exposure to the virus is very low or nonexistent. Much prophylaxis is administered when dog or cat quarantine or testing can be used to rule out rabies. Knowledge of the epidemiology of rabies in the area is frequently not applied when rabies postexposure prophylaxis is prescribed. Adherence to official recommendation for prophylaxis is often deficient and failure to follow full prophylaxis protocol consistently is inappropriate and potentially dangerous. In a small but significant proportion of individuals receiving rabies postexposure prophylaxis nonadherence to official recommendations occurs. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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