[A study on the epidemiological characteristics and the preventive measures of rabies in Shanghai]

To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and the preventive measures of rabies in Shanghai from 1950 to 2000.

Suspected cases of rabies were investigated epidemiologically and collection of samples to isolate the virus.

The most highest morbidity of rabies was 1.98/100,000 in 1950. There had been neither case of rabies, nor the rabies virus positive identified in dogs between 1958 and 1988. The morbidity of rabies was 0 - 0.03/100,000 from 1989 to 2000. According to the data of 20 reported cases from 1985 to Sept. 2000, the mean incubation was 66.37 days, except one case of 14 years. The mean course of diseases was 4.55 days. Seventy percent of the cases did not receive any preventive measure. A hundred and ninety-four persons who were bitten by rabies virus positive dogs were timely treated and all of them survived. In recent years, there has been more than 50,000 persons bitten by dogs every year in Shanghai. The rate of rabies vaccine immunization was over 95%. The rate of anti-rabies serum immunization was over 20%.

Rabies is a preventable disease even when persons were bitten by dogs with rabies virus positive. The important measure is to treat the wound timely, giving vaccine and anti-rabies serum injection. According to the regulation of dog control in Shanghai, the number of dogs be kept at the lowest level, immunizing all the registration dogs, and destroying the none-registration dogs are the most essential measures to be taken.