A five years record of epidemiological profile and the frequency of animal bites in Khorramshahr county, (2013-2017)

Animal bite is an important threat to human population’s health. The present study aimed to evaluate five-years incidence of animal bites in humans in Khorramshahr County from 2013 to 2017.

In this descriptive-analytical study, data were collected using checklists form cases that suffered from animal bite and referred to health services centers. The study population were the animal bite patients who referred to health services centers during 2013 to 2019. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 18. The chi-square and Student t-tests were used to analyze the relationship among the data and variables.

The total number of reported animal bites was 733, out of which 69% were men. The majority of cases (83.5%) were bitten by dogs. The lower limbs injuries (49.7%) were significantly higher than other sites. About 71.8% of bitten cases lived in urban areas. In addition, the most animal bites (19.6%) occurred in the 30-39 year-old age groups. Most of the victims were students (31.4%). Animal bites were more common in spring (27%). Significant differences were observed in the frequency of bites in terms of the type of the animals as biter, gender, age group, month, and occupation in different years (P-Value<0.05 (.

Based on our findings, animal bite is more abundant in students, young men, and residents of the urban areas. Moreover, dog bite accounts for 83.5% of animal bites. These findings shows the necessity for education programs to promote the knowledge of the at-risk people.