Phone Text Message Reminders on Compliance With Human Rabies Post Exposure Prophylaxis Project

Plain-language summary

Every year, rabies, a disease transmitted to humans by rabid dogs, is estimated to kill 59,000 people globally, mostly children 15 years and below in Africa and Asia. This is despite the availability of effective vaccines against rabies in humans, and in dogs. Following a dog bite, there are two critical steps required to prevent clinical disease and death: thorough wound washing with clean running water for at least 15 minutes; and immediate injection with anti-rabies vaccine on the day of being bitten followed by other four injections over the course of one month. Delay in seeking first dose of anti-rabies or failure to complete the recommended dosage may result in clinical rabies and death. The investigators proposed to assess the effect of short message system (SMS) phone text reminders sent to bite patients ahead of their scheduled visits on the adherence to scheduled anti-rabies doses among bite patients in rural eastern Kenya. The investigators enrolled bite patients presenting at Makueni County Referral Hospital between October 2018 and March 2019. Bite patients presenting to the facility between January and March 2019 received SMS reminder written in both English and local dialect a day before each dose of anti-rabies vaccine. These data were compared to those presenting to the health facility in the period prior (October to December 2018) before the introduction of the SMS reminder. This group received routine hospital cards as reminder of their next dose of anti-rabies vaccine injection. Each study participant was contacted after one month from the time of the bite and a phone interview completed to assess compliance and factors associated with completion of the five doses of anti-rabies vaccine.

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