Times of India: Thiruvananthapuram: Monday, 29 August
2022.
The district recorded five rabies deaths this year, and none of the victims had taken anti-rabies vaccine or anti-rabies serum, according to RTI data obtained from the health department. All the victims had sustained category 3 wounds (single or multiple transdermal bites or scratches, licks on broken skin and contamination of mucous membrane with saliva (licks).
While the recommended post-exposure prophylaxis for category 3 exposure includes wound management, rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine, none of the persons in the capital sought medical care after they were bitten by the animal.
Data show that three of the victims were bitten by stray dogs while the remaining two were bitten by a pet dog and and a domestic/unrestrained dog. One of them was bitten on the hands, while in another victim’s case, the dog had licked his wound. The site of wound was not known in the case of remaining fatalities.
It took 1-5 months for the rabies victims to die after they were bitten or licked by the rabies-infected animal. A 64-year-old man from Mudakkal, one of the rabies victims in the district this year, was bitten by a domestic/unrestrained dog in October 2021 and he died in April 2022.
“This virus progresses very slowly. If you wash the wound thoroughly soon after the bite and seek proper medical care, the virus gets neutralized. In Thiruvananthapuram, the rabies victims did not seek medical care after being bitten. Only after they developed symptoms, they were taken to hospitals. This is a major concern and stresses the need to provide proper awareness on taking every single bite/scratch by an animal very seriously,” said a health official associated with rabies control programme.
The list of victims also included a dog handler. It was later known that he had not even taken the pre-exposure vaccine and the dogs were also not vaccinated against rabies.
Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of rabies deaths this year. The local bodies have spent about Rs 5 crore in stray dog management in the past five years.
Local bodies in the district spent Rs 4.8 crore in five years to sterilize nearly 24,000 dogs, as per data presented in the assembly. Urban local bodies in the district accounted for 58% of dogs which were sterilized in the last five years. Above Rs 1 crore was spent by local bodies in the district for animal birth control programme, data show.
The district recorded five rabies deaths this year, and none of the victims had taken anti-rabies vaccine or anti-rabies serum, according to RTI data obtained from the health department. All the victims had sustained category 3 wounds (single or multiple transdermal bites or scratches, licks on broken skin and contamination of mucous membrane with saliva (licks).
While the recommended post-exposure prophylaxis for category 3 exposure includes wound management, rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine, none of the persons in the capital sought medical care after they were bitten by the animal.
Data show that three of the victims were bitten by stray dogs while the remaining two were bitten by a pet dog and and a domestic/unrestrained dog. One of them was bitten on the hands, while in another victim’s case, the dog had licked his wound. The site of wound was not known in the case of remaining fatalities.
It took 1-5 months for the rabies victims to die after they were bitten or licked by the rabies-infected animal. A 64-year-old man from Mudakkal, one of the rabies victims in the district this year, was bitten by a domestic/unrestrained dog in October 2021 and he died in April 2022.
“This virus progresses very slowly. If you wash the wound thoroughly soon after the bite and seek proper medical care, the virus gets neutralized. In Thiruvananthapuram, the rabies victims did not seek medical care after being bitten. Only after they developed symptoms, they were taken to hospitals. This is a major concern and stresses the need to provide proper awareness on taking every single bite/scratch by an animal very seriously,” said a health official associated with rabies control programme.
The list of victims also included a dog handler. It was later known that he had not even taken the pre-exposure vaccine and the dogs were also not vaccinated against rabies.
Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of rabies deaths this year. The local bodies have spent about Rs 5 crore in stray dog management in the past five years.
Local bodies in the district spent Rs 4.8 crore in five years to sterilize nearly 24,000 dogs, as per data presented in the assembly. Urban local bodies in the district accounted for 58% of dogs which were sterilized in the last five years. Above Rs 1 crore was spent by local bodies in the district for animal birth control programme, data show.
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