{"id":20358,"date":"2026-07-31T10:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/sessions\/assessment-of-family-medicine-residents-knowledge-on-rabies-and-its-prophylaxis\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T10:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:32:46","slug":"assessment-of-family-medicine-residents-knowledge-on-rabies-and-its-prophylaxis","status":"publish","type":"wsa_session","link":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/fr\/sessions\/assessment-of-family-medicine-residents-knowledge-on-rabies-and-its-prophylaxis\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessment of Family Medicine Residents\u2019 Knowledge on Rabies and Its Prophylaxis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rabies is a fatal but preventable disease and remains endemic in T\u00fcrkiye. According to the Turkish Ministry of Health, 470,918 cases of rabies-risk exposures were reported in 2024, with one confirmed case. Despite the relatively low number of cases, exposure notifications have increased annually.The primary objective of this study was to assess the knowledge level of family medicine residents regarding rabies and its prophylaxis. The secondary objective was to identify knowledge gaps and to highlight these areas through educational programmes aimed at improving rabies control in endemic regions.This descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in September 2025 at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital. A total of 118 family medicine residents participated, including 64 contracted residents and 54 full-time residents. After obtaining informed consent, 39-item questionnaire comprising seven sections was administered through face-to-face interviews. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board(TABED) (Approval No:2-25-1688).The overall success rate was 76.97%. Full-time residents demonstrated higher success rate (79.85%) compared to contracted residents(74.65%). The correct identification of pre-exposure vaccination schedule(days 0 and 7) was observed in 50.8% of participants, and 59.3% correctly identified that interrupted vaccination should be resumed. In fully vaccinated individuals, 75.4% correctly identified the two-dose schedule following re-exposure. Regarding adverse effects, injection-site pain and swelling were correctly identified by 92.3% of participants, whereas only 50% were aware of possible hypersensitivity reactions after repeated doses. The awareness of rabies transmission was high for dogs and cats but low for livestock and wild animals. The most common inaccurate response(68.7%) concerned vaccination and immunoglobulin utilisation after symptom onset.Although fundamental rabies-risk exposure management was generally well understood, important deficiencies were identified in vaccination schedules and management after symptom onset. Limited awareness regarding transmission from rural animals may be attributable to the urban setting of the study population.Despite adequate recognition of fundamental rabies exposure management, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding vaccination schedules and repeated exposure protocols. Physicians\u2019 knowledge is crucial for appropriate rabies prophylaxis and prevention of superfluous interventions. Enhancement of residency education on rabies prophylaxis may support improvement of rabies control in endemic regions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-20358","wsa_session","type-wsa_session","status-publish","hentry","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsa_session\/20358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsa_session"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wsa_session"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woncaeurope2026.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}