[Human rabies in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire): recent cases]

To present epidemiological and clinical aspects of human rabies in a hospital center.

We analyzed medical records of cases of rabies in humans treated at the infectious disease department of the Treichville University Hospital Center from January 2005 through December 2009.

Seven cases of human rabies were reported during those five years, four in teenagers and three in adults. Five of the cases involved bites by stray dogs whose vaccine status was unknown. No patient had had a pre-exposure prophylactic vaccination, and only four post-exposure prophylaxis, all incomplete. All of the patients developed furious rabies and fever 21 to 96 days (mean: 47.7) after the dog bite, when the wounds had healed and scars formed. Death occurred 4 to 10 days after the onset of symptoms (mean: 4.7). Relatives refused autopsies in all cases.

It is indispensable to increase population awareness of prevention by vaccination against human rabies, reduce the population of stray dogs, and promote mass vaccination of dogs in the Ivory Coast.