Retrospective analysis of post-exposure to human anti-rabies treatment in botucatu,São Paulo state,Brazil

This analysis aimed to identify characteristics of accidents that would,probably,provoke rabies infection. a total of 14,409 survey questionnaires for surveillance of human rabies from the brazilian information system for disease notification (sinan),from 2000 to 2005,were analyzed. regarding demographics,it was observed that 7,377 (51.5%) of the victims were white,4,458 (30.93%) were children and 8,008 (55.58%) were males. urban cases were prevalent (88.10%) while dogs were the animals most frequently involved in accidents,in 11,700 cases (81.19%). bites (84.35%) and scratches (19.15%) were the most prevalent exposure types,and occurred predominantly on victims' extremities (38.79%). the prophylactic measure taken in 6,179 cases comprised anti-rabies vaccine; of these victims,421 (2.92%) showed systemic reactions while 693 (4.80%) reported no response. the importance of developing awareness in professionals that should correctly report post-exposure immunoprophylaxis cases is emphasized given the high number of individuals who receive this type of treatment annually.