Post-exposure human rabies prophylaxis: spatial patterns of inadequate procedures in Ceará - Brazil, 2007 to 2015

This study investigated the spatial distribution of inappropriate post-exposure human rabies procedures in Ceará, Brazil, between 2007 and 2015.

The ecological study population was based on the records of post-exposure human rabies procedures from the Notification Disease Information System. We analyzed the data using the Moran Index (I) and the Moran Local Index.

There were 222,036 (95.8%) records with inappropriate post-exposure human rabies procedures. There was heterogeneity in their spatial distribution, with two significant clusters in the northeast and northwest regions.

These findings help elaborate differentiated strategies to reduce unnecessary post-exposure human rabies procedures.