Investigation of surveillance on rabies in China from 2004 to 2006

Objective The present study was conducted to introduce the surveillance on rabies in China from 2004 to 2006,summarize the characteristics of the rabies epidemic situation,and analyze the reason why the rabies epidemic has been increasing.Methods Data collected from the National Disease Surveillance System from 2004 to 2006 and the National Active Surveillance System for Rabies in 2005 and 2006 were analyzed.Results From 2004 to 2006,there was an annual increase of 429 rabies cases on average.The total cases in the four provinces,Guangxi,Hunan,Guizhou and Guangdong,accounted for 61.5% of the total cases in the whole country.In 2006,839 counties and districts were involved in the epidemic situation,which took on an obvious regional spread,appearing that the cases increased in the Southwest,Huabei,and Huanan areas at the same time while the epidemic in Huadong area and Jiangxi Province was in a steady decrease.The number of the cases in rural areas accounted for 92.5% of the total.There were 2 peaks of incidence among the children and the elderly.In 2006,the rate of wound management in rabies cases at the surveillance sites was 32.0%, with the rate of vaccination and the whole-process vaccination being 13.7% and 3.2% respectively. The rate at which grade-Ⅲ-exposed patients received passive immunization was 6.1%.In rural areas, there was an average of 14.1 dogs per 100 persons and the immunization rate of the dogs was 6.0%.In the outpatient department under surveillance,the component ratio of exposure grades among the post- exposed patients was 19.9%,45.1% and 35.1%,respectively.Among the post-exposed patients,27.0% attempted to manage the wounds by themselves,and there were 99.6% and 93.4% of them using vaccine and using vaccine for the whole process,respectively.The rate at which the grade-Ⅲ-exposed patients received passive immunization was 31.2%.Conclusion From 2004 to 2006,the epidemic situation of rabies rapidly increased in China.The southern areas were mainly involved in the epidemic situation and it assumed a regional spreading.At present,there is a trend that the epidemic increased in the Southwest,Huabei,and Huanan areas simultaneously.In rural areas,the high density of dogs,the lower rate of immunization and poor preventive management after exposure have been important reasons for the increase in the number of rabies cases in China.