Despite the fact that death from rabies is 100% preventable with a course of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment, canine rabies still causes about 59,000 human deaths worldwide annually, half of which are occurring in Africa. In Côte d'Ivoire, rabies remains a threat partly due to the high drop-out rate of the life-saving human PEP treatment among people exposed to dog bites. Each year, half of the victims starting treatment, do not complete the course. The current study therefore assessed the determinants for drop-out of the life-saving treatment among people exposed to rabies in the department of San-Pedro in Côte d'Ivoire.MethodsA mixed-methods approach was used, including questionnaires, observation, individual interviews and focus group discussions, to gather socio-demographic and economic data from 235 participants about possible reasons for abandoning treatment. The study population consisted of patients and medical and veterinary health professionals who were selected using stratified sampling and purposive selection from a database available at the Rabies Center of San Pedro.ResultThe drop-out of PEP treatment was related to perception bias and a habit of low attendance of health care and vaccination centers in the population. Quantitative analysis shows differences between rural and urban areas and an association with age when it comes to treatment completion. The dropout rate was most significant among patients who, in case of other illness, did not routinely see a doctor or go to vaccination centers. The rate of abandonment was higher among those who believed that dog-related injuries could be easily treated at home, and who believed that a person with rabies could be cured without completing the preventive treatment. Insufficient provision of health information on rabies and logistic constraints related to the practical organization of treatment, including the long distance to the anti-rabies center and weaknesses in the patient follow-up procedure, did not contribute to the completion of PEP.ConclusionEstablished determinants for drop-out provide a framework for effective design and implementation of rabies control strategies to accelerate rabies deaths elimination efforts. In particular, access to PEP and community knowledge about rabies need to be improved and integrated in the health system and education system, respectively.
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Domestic dogs are responsible for 95% of all human rabies cases worldwide and continue to be the main reservoir for this fatal virus in African and Asian countries. Interrupting the spread of the disease in the domestic dog population is therefore necessary for long-term, sustainable rabies control. Chad has been recognized as a rabies-endemic country since 1961, but no national control strategy is in place to date and dog vaccination coverage is very low. This qualitative, descriptive study aims to describe the main barriers to dog vaccination on both the community and the institutional level from a socio-anthropological point of view in Chad. The study was embedded in an overall project conducted from 2016 to 2018, to determine rabies burden and vaccine demand in West and Central Africa, funded by GAVI, the vaccine alliance. Data collection was conducted on the occasion of the project's closing workshops with stakeholders organized between August to September 2018 in the four (4) project areas: Logone Occidental, Ouaddaï, Hadjer Lamis and Chari Baguirmi. We conducted interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) among veterinary officers and dog owners. Participants were selected purposively based on their place of residence (dog owners) or work place (veterinary officers) and their previous contact with the project through reporting (dog owner) or management (veterinary officers) of a suspect dog rabies case. In each region, one FGD was organized with dog owners, and one FGD with heads of veterinary posts. At the end of the FGDs, a few participants were randomly selected for interviews. In addition, in each region an interview was conducted with the head of the livestock sector, the chief district medical officers and the head of a civil society association. The identified barriers to dog vaccination access are grouped into three main aspects: the economic, the socio-cultural and the institutional level. Economic constraints encountered relate to the cost of the vaccine itself and the expenses for transporting the dogs to the vaccination site. The cultural belief that the vaccine will have an impact on the therapeutic properties of dog meat for consumers (observed in Southern Chad), and the fact that dogs are considered impure animals in Muslim faith, which prohibits handling of dogs, are obstacles identified on the sociocultural level. At the institutional level, the unavailability of vaccines in veterinary services, the lack of communication about the law on dog vaccination, the absence of rabies in the training curricula of veterinary agents, and the lack of intersectoral collaboration limit vaccination coverage. In order to improve vaccination coverage and rabies surveillance with a view to eradicate rabies by 2030, communication strategies that are adapted to the context and that take cultural obstacles into account must be put in place in a synergy of interdisciplinary action. In addition, factors such as affordability, geographical access and availability of dog rabies vaccines needs to be addressed throughout the country. Although our study design did not allow a detailed analysis of obstacles related to socio-economic level, gender and age the broad insights gained can provide general guidance for future interventions in Chad and similar countries.
Introduction : La tuberculose se présente comme un phénomène social total qui implique les dimensions économiques et socioculturelles des personnes infectées et des acteurs institutionnels de lutte contre le fléau. En Côte d’Ivoire, où seulement 59 % des cas estimés ont été notifiés et traités en 2018, le sous-diagnostic constitue l’un des principaux obstacles à la lutte contre la tuberculose. Objectif : L’objectif de cette étude socioanthropologique était de fournir des bases à des recommandations de communication susceptibles d’accroître la demande de dépistage de la tuberculose en Côte d’Ivoire. Elle a donc porté sur les représentations de la tuberculose susceptibles d’être influencées par les campagnes de communication. Méthode : Elle a mobilisé, d’une part, une approche qualitative à travers des entretiens semi-directifs auprès de 54 personnes et 28 focus groups de 8 personnes chacun et, d’autre part, une approche quantitative auprès de 400 personnes soumises à un questionnaire. L’étude s’est déroulée à Abidjan, Bouaké, Korhogo et San-Pédro, en Côte d’Ivoire. Résultats : Les résultats ont montré, entre autres, que la population a une très bonne connaissance de l’existence et de la gravité de la tuberculose, une bonne connaissance de ses symptômes, qu’elle fait peu confiance à la médecine traditionnelle en cas de tuberculose et qu’elle sait que la maladie peut être traitée par les médicaments de la médecine moderne. En revanche, la moitié de la population seulement sait que le traitement est gratuit, ce qui peut tenir des malades éloignés des structures sanitaires. Les enquêtés associent très majoritairement la tuberculose à l’infection à VIH et au sida. La peur suscitée par cette association est susceptible d’être un frein important à l’entrée dans une démarche thérapeutique en cas de suspicion de tuberculose. Conclusion : Il nous paraît donc nécessaire de renforcer la communication sur la gratuité du traitement contre la tuberculose et de dissocier tuberculose et VIH dans les outils de communication et de sensibilisation à la tuberculose comme au VIH.
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