Table 6.

Practices of healthcare professionals when treating bite wound victims, Pétionville, Haiti, April 2013

Survey questions	n	%
Have you ever received training on rabies control and prevention?
Yes	15	14·2
No/Unknown	91	85·8
Do you need to alert local authorities when you treat a bite victim?
Yes	101	95·3
No/Unknown	5	4·7
Do you discuss rabies with patients seeking treatment for an animal bite?
Never	39	36·8
Sometimes	53	50·0
Often	9	8·5
Almost always	5	4·7
What treatment do you recommend to patients bitten by an animal suspected of having rabies?*
None	0	0
Immediately wash the wound with soap and water	36	34·0
Administer a tetanus vaccine	19	17·9
Administer antibiotic treatment	6	5·7
Provide rabies post-exposure prophylaxis	3	2·8
Don't know/Declined to answer	42	39·6
What do you recommend to patients bitten by unfamiliar animals when your institution does not have rabies vaccine in supply?*
Nothing	1	0·9
Tell the patient to return home	1	0·9
Refer the patient to another centre where vaccine is available	63	59·4
Call another institution to see if the vaccine is available	11	10·4
Alert the health authorities in the region	13	12·3
Don't know	21	19·8
What do you recommend bite victims do with the animal which has bitten them?*
Observe the animal for at least 14 days	73	68·9
Check if the animal has been vaccinated against rabies	14	13·2
Kill the biting animal	2	1·9
Take the animal to the veterinarian for a health assessment	64	60·4
Don't know	7	6·6
When should a person be given rabies vaccine?*
If the animal was confirmed to have rabies	34	32·1
If the biting animal cannot be located or was unfamiliar to the bite victim	19	17·9
If the biting animal died or was killed shortly after the bite	21	19·8
If saliva made contact with broken skin or a mucous membrane (i.e. a bite)	15	14·2
Don't know	39	36·8

* Multiple responses allowed, totals may not add up to 100%.