BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Population of stray dogs, cases of animal bite injuries, and incidence of human rabies have increased in most of the provinces of Iran. Therefore, we call to attention controlling these conditions and investigating their various aspects. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the epidemiological patterns of animal bite injuries in victims aged under 18 years in Babol, Iran, during 2010-14.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, data on animal bite injuries occurring in the population aged under 18 years during 2010-14, were extracted from the rabies registration office of Babol health center. The demographics, type of animal, and time and clinical patterns of all the cases were investigated

FINDINGS: The mean age of the victims was 11.24±4.64 years. Male to female ratio was 82:4, 598 (82.8%) of the animal bite victims were male, and 528 (73.1%) cases were bitten in rural areas. In both genders, most of the cases were dog bite victims (521 [87.1%] male, and 100 [80.6%] female). The number of animal bite cases in ages under 18 years has increased from 82.5 to 123.1 cases per one hundred thousand population.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that most of the cases were victims of dog bite injuries, and animal bite mostly happened in rural areas.