Deficiency in the knowledge about human anti-rabies tretament’s flowchart in the primary care

Abstract

The cases in which patients seek basic health, units that care for animal bites injuries, are commonplace. The most relevant infection that can assail those cases is rabies, due to the disease’s gravity and its lethality levels close to 100%. With the goal of controlling the possible virus transmission, Ponta Grossa’s Municipal Primary Health Care Network establishes a flowchart that defines the actions that the health professionals in the care for initial bite cases must take, aiming at the proper prophylaxis post human rabies exposition. This article aims to raise knowledge about the “Protocol for Welcoming Spontaneous Demand in Primary Health Care: animal bites” for health professionals and for the civilian population. Through the application of questionnaires, a few of those professionals, as well as the general population, presented an awareness deficiency about the progression of human rabies, and about the prevention and control measures that are required. This failure can trigger an inappropriate treatment and increase the risk of an infection after the accidents, bespeaking an important need for the amplification and investment in educational measures about this subject.