TABLE 2.
Characteristics of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis queries to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases clinician hotline from 01 January 2016 to 31 December 2019.
| Characteristic | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Number of queries by year | 2461 | |
| 2016 | 501 | 20.4 |
| 2017 | 655 | 26.6 |
| 2018 | 701 | 28.5 |
| 2019 | 604 | 24.5 |
| Caller type | 2437 | |
| HCW | 2313 | 94.9 |
| Public sector | 448 | 19.4 |
| Doctor | 269 | 60.0 |
| Nurse | 123 | 27.5 |
| Provincial surveillance | 13 | 2.9 |
| Laboratorian | 1 | 0.2 |
| Other HCW | 42 | 9.4 |
| Private sector | 1865 | 80.6 |
| Doctor | 1558 | 83.5 |
| Nurse | 252 | 13.5 |
| Provincial surveillance | 1 | 0.1 |
| Laboratorian | 3 | 0.2 |
| Other HCW | 41 | 2.2 |
| Non-HCW | 124 | 5.1 |
| Province | 2443 | |
| Gauteng | 912 | 37.3 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 875 | 35.8 |
| Western Cape | 201 | 8.2 |
| Free State | 144 | 5.9 |
| Eastern Cape | 112 | 4.6 |
| Mpumalanga | 70 | 2.9 |
| North West | 64 | 2.6 |
| Limpopo | 29 | 1.2 |
| Northern Cape | 21 | 0.9 |
| External to SA | 15 | 0.6 |
| Age group of exposed patients | ||
| Child | 697 | 28.3 |
| Adult | 1431 | 58.1 |
| Not stated | 321 | 13.0 |
| Multiple people | 12 | 0.5 |
SA, South Africa; HCW, healthcare workers.