Evaluation of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine residents' knowledge about rabies disease and prophylaxis

Rabies is a fatal disease that can be prevented with appropriate prophylaxis and has no effective treatment; for this reason, it is very important for that physicians, who carry out rabies risk case management, to have sufficient and accurate information. Our aim in this study; evaluate the knowledge level of resident physicians working at Dicle University Faculty of Medicine about rabies and prophylaxis. The study was planned in a cross-sectional descriptive style. Ethics committee approval and consent of the participants were obtained for the study. 250 resident physicians participated in the study. A 26-question survey form including sociodemographic characteristics and information questions was applied to the participants. Statistical analysis of the data was made using SPSS 26.0 program. While 94.8% of the physicians participating in our study knew that rabies was caused by virus, 100% of them knew that dogs and 92% of them knew that cats were animals at risk for rabies; 98.4% of them correctly knew that the wound should be washed first with plenty of water and soap. Although 72.8% of the physicians knew the application method of rabies vaccine and 79.6% of them knew the application site correctly, only 22% of them knew the vaccine protection period correctly. Although 91.2% of the physicians knew that pre-exposure prophylaxis should be given to veterinarians, only 27.2% of them knew the pre-exposure vaccination schedule correctly. While 80% of physicians know the 4-dose classical rabies vaccine scheme; only 29.2% of them knew '2.1.1' and 25.6% knew the vaccination schedule of the contact who had taken prophylaxis correctly. Although 51.2% of the physicians knew the application method of rabies immunoglobulin correctly; only 28% correctly knew the immunoglobulin doses, 26.8% the post-vaccine administration time and 23.2% the time to suture after immunoglobulin. Highly significant difference was found between the scores of the physicians on the information questions and the specialty they work in and whether they made rabies risky case management (p0,001). As a result; It was seen that the knowledge level of physicians about rabies and prophylaxis was not sufficient. Pre- and post-graduation training should be increased by making use of current guides. KEYWORDS: Rabies Disease, Postexposure Rabies Prophylaxis, Preexposure Rabies Prophylaxis, Resident Physician, Knowledge Level