Professional paper
FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE ZAGREB ANTIRABIES CLINIC: HOSPITALIZED PERSONS DUE TO ANIMAL BITES FROM 1995 TO 2006
RADOVAN VODOPIJA
orcid.org/0000-0002-5645-8286
; Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
DORA PRIMORAC
orcid.org/0000-0002-1374-3917
; Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
JELENA BONETA
; Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
KRUNO SOKOL
; Institute of Public Health of Zagreb County, Zaprešić, Croatia
DANIELA VOJVODIĆ
; Institute of Public Health of Zagreb County, Zaprešić, Croatia
Abstract
Aim: In the Zagreb Antirabies Clinic, which operates within the Reference Center for Rabies at Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health in Zagreb, in the period from 1995 to 2006, there were 12 380 patients examined for injuries infl icted by animals, of which 147 (1.18%) were hospitalized in various Zagreb departments and hospitals due wound severity. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from the offi cial patient registry of the Zagreb Antirabies Clinic. Results: Hospitalized patients were in an age range from 1 to 81 years, 63 (42.86%) were adults, and 84 (57.14%) children aged 1 to 16 years; among adults, there were 28 (44.44%) men and 35 (55.56%) women, while among children there were 45 (53.57%) boys and 39 (46.43%) girls. Discussion: Concerning animals involved in the incidents which led to hospitalization, dogs were by far the most frequent species, recorded in 74.82% of cases; other animals were, in the order of frequency, cats, rats, a pig and a donkey. The dogs of known owners were represented five times more often than stray dogs. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of hospitalization between children and adults, while dogs were significantly more likely to inflict injuries that ended in hospitalization than other animals, and patients were more often hospitalized after head and neck injuries or multiple injuries than due to injuries to limbs or hands and fingers.
Keywords
rabies, animal injuries; children; adults; hospitalization
Hrčak ID:
274016
URI
Publication date:
16.3.2022.
Visits: 1.050 *