Human rabies cases in Morocco, Period 2003-2012

Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Exhibit hall (Dena'ina Center)
Nada Bennani Mechita, MD , Faculty of medecine and pharmacy of Rabat / University Mohammed V Souissi, RABAT, Morocco
Rachid Razine, MPH , Faculty of medecine and pharmacy of Rabat / University Mohammed V Souissi, RABAT, Morocco
Jalal Kasouati, MD , Faculty of medecine and pharmacy of Rabat / University Mohammed V Souissi, RABAT, Morocco
Karim Sabai Idrissi, MD , Faculty of medecine and pharmacy of Rabat / University Mohammed V Souissi, RABAT, Morocco
Mustapha Mrabet, MD , Faculty of medecine and pharmacy of Rabat / University Mohammed V Souissi, RABAT, Morocco
Abderrahmane Maaroufi, MPH , Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, RABAT, Morocco
Aziz Barkia, MD , Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, RABAT, Morocco
Houda Moumni, MD , Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, RABAT, Morocco
INTRODUCTION:

Rabies is a zoonotic disease, affecting more than 150 countries and territories, present in all continents except Antarctica. Man is accidentally reached after a rabid animal’s bite, Rabies almost always leads to rapid death.In Morocco, rabies is a notifiable disease. A multisectoral national program against rabies was established in 1986, and its stakeholders are the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Interior. The objectives of this program is to fight against stray dogs, to reduce rabies in human in a short term and to eliminate it in a long term. The objective of this study is to discribe rubies in human in morocco.

METHODS:

This study was conducted at the Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, in charge of epidemiological surveillance of the population and programs of disease control.We conducted a retrospective descriptive study concerning all cases of rabies reported to the department of Epidemiology and Disease Control during the period from January 2003 to December 2012 

RESULTS:

An accumulation of 212 cases of human rabies were notified from 2003 until 2012. The maximum number of cases was observed in 2007 (31 cases).The cases came from all regions of the kingdom, except two regions (Oued eddahab et laayoun-Boujdour-sakia lhamra) with a predominance of cases in rural areas (75.5%).

The most affected age group was from 0 to 15 years (34%), with a predominance of male gender (81.6%).The most frequent vector was the dog (85.4%).The sites for the majority of bites were the upper limb (43.9%).The majority of cases didn’t receive vaccination (67.5%) neither serum therapy (72.6%).The median incubation period was 34 days [21; 58 days], This period was shorter when the bite was localized at the upper limb (p <0.001) or when the case didn’t benefit from serum therapy or vaccination (p <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:  To reduce the incidence of rubies in human, we have to concentrate our activity in the rural area and to educate the population and the professional of health in the interest of the vaccination.