Abstract:

Background: Rabies remains an important but yet reglected tropical diseases in Tanzania causing morbidity and if not treated may lead to death. Rabies is one of the diseases targeted for elimination by the international community through mass vaccination and in Tanzania, an ambitious programme has been going on in 28 districts to vaccinate dogs. However, the community compliance to this ongoing vaccination campaign has not been evaluated. This ongoing vaccination campaign has not been evaluated. The present study was therefore conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes, practice and compliances of dog owners to rabies vaccination in rural district of Shinyanga.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among households heads aged 18-81 years owning dogs in rural Shinyanga district, North-Western Tanzania. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies among dog owners. In addition, the questionnaire assesses compliance of dog owners to rabies vaccinations and factors associated with compliance to rabies vaccination. Analysis of the knowledge and attitudes based on the Likert scale. Factors associated with knowledge, attitude and practices and compliance to rabies vaccination were analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression model.

Results: Of the 286 respondents, 76.22% of them had heard of rabies an the main source of information about rabies was friends/neighbors (55.23%). 40.21% of the respondents reported to know the symptom of rabies. However, only 1.75% of the respondents knew that rabies was transmitted by rabies virus. Based on scoring system, only 1.75% of the respondents knew that rabies was transmitted by rabies virus. Based on scoring system, only 37.7% (n=108) and 48.25% (n=138) of the respondents had good and fair knowledge about rabies respectively. The level of knowledge about rabies was mainly significantly associated with sex (P<0.038), education background (P<0.001), age group (P<0.001) and religion (P<0.004). The majority of the respondents in study had neural attitudes/feeling (61.89%) about preventive measures of rabies. Of the respondents, 70% reported to seek medical care if bitten by suspected rabid dogs and 42% reported that washing wounds immediately after the bites has occurred as initial step to prevent development of human rabies. A total of 44% of the respondents reported to have vaccinated their dogs. 37.41% of 44% reported to vaccinate their dog using their own initiatives. Factors associated with rabies vaccination were mainly having fair knowledge about rabies and its preventive measures (AOR=2.93, 95%CI: 1.22-7.06, P<0.02), fair attitudes about rabies and its preventive measures (AOR=4.45, 95%CI; 2.56-7.75, P<0.001) and belong to the young age group, 18-29 years (AOR=2.49, 95%CI; 1.12-5.56, P<0.03).

Conclusion: In the present study, respondents showed a fair knowledge of rabies and its control and prevention measures. Compliance to rabies vaccination was very low in the study community, below the required range for rabies vaccination coverage aimed at rabies elimination over years. Factors associated with compliance to rabies vaccination were mainly having good knowledge about rabies and its related preventive measures, being of young age and having fair attitudes towards rabies. Public health education which should focus on awareness raising, specifically on risks associated with rabies and correct behavior to prevent these risks is highly needed in the present community.