Drive to fight rabies in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The community medicine department of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College has decided to launch an awareness campaign on rabies, dog bite, treatment and preventive measures. The campaign has been planned in the wake of the recent dog bite death in the capital and the increasing threat from stray dogs. According to official statistics, more than 2,000 persons are bitten by dogs everyday in the state.

About 59,000 people die of rabies in the world every year which means one dies in every ten minutes. Of the 59,000 deaths, 25,000 deaths take place in India alone which means 40 to 50 per cent rabies fatalities occur in the country. However, the situation in Kerala is not that grave. Less than 25 rabies deaths are reported in the state every year.

The awareness among people has helped in checking rabies deaths in the state. The anti-rabies vaccine is provided free of cost in government hospitals. Health institutions procure rabies vaccines worth Rs 12 crore every year. Of the Rs 350 crore set aside for life-saving drugs in the budget, Rs 12 crore is spent on anti-rabies vaccines.

Do’s and dont’s
A bite even from a pet dog should not be taken lightly. The injured area should be cleaned properly using soap. It removes 99 per cent of the virus. One should prefer the nearest government hospital for anti-rabies vaccine as medicines are provided free of cost. Anti-rabies vaccine is given on the arm while anti-rabies serum is injected into the injured area. That one gets rabies 90 days after a dog bite is an old story now. There have been instances of rabies being reported even four years after the dog bite. Hence one needs to be extra careful in dealing with dog bites.