[Analysis of epidemiological features of human rabies in China, 2012]

To analyze epidemiological characteristics and trends of rabies and explore control and prevention measures based on the rabies surveillance data of 2012 in China.

Data of 2012 from China's infectious disease surveillance reporting and management system and sentinel surveillance systems in 6 provinces were used, for a retrospective analysis in descriptive epidemiological methods.

1 425 cases were reported in 731 counties of 27 provinces in 2012 and 1 361 deaths were reported due to rabies, with the rabies incidence rate and mortality rate of 0.11/100 000 and 0.10/100 000 respectively, decreasing by 26.0% and 27.9% respectively from 2011. Rabies epidemic was mainly found in southern regions, followed by middle and eastern regions in China. 49.6% of total rabies cases were found in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou, and Henan province, which were the top five provinces. The rabies cases were mainly peasants, students and scattered children, accounting for 70.9%, 8.3% and 5.8% of total cases respectively. The male-female ratio in rabies cases was 2.6 : 1. In 2012, 294 epidemiological questionnaires were collected, revealing that 92.1% of the exposure was caused by dogs and 6.8% by cats. The median of latent period was 70 days. 62.4% of the cases were exposed in upper limb, and only 6.9% of such cases were vaccinated after exposure while the proportion of passive immunity biological vaccination was 2.9% for cases with exposure of category III. Surveillance data from PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) clinics showed that 81.7% of the visitors were hurt by dogs and the exposure categories I, II and III accounted for 7.0%, 50.5% and 42.5% respectively. The proportion of of the exposure categories varied by PEP surveillance clinics.

Despite continuing decrease of rabies cases in China in 2012, the number of counties (districts) affected fall relatively slow, with a tendency of rabies spreading to the western and northern regions in China. There were more rabies cases in rural areas than urban ones, and children and elderly people constitute the high-risk population. Animal reservoir of rabies was still dogs as before. Poor PEP and insufficient use of vaccination and passive immunity preparations were main causes for onset of human rabies.