Dog bites and rabies – real threats in summer

Rawalpindi:In extreme hot weather conditions, the number of cases of dog bites and rabies register a sharp upward trend making these serious health threats for the general public though majority of the people are unaware of the fact.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Monday has revealed that soon after the setting in of summer, in May, the healthcare facilities in this region of the country had started receiving a significant number of dog-bite cases that are continuously on the rise.

It is alarming that the three teaching hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital had received as many as 1482 dog-bite cases in the month of May while the number of cases being reported in June is recording a continuous increase.

Principal Rawalpindi Medical College and In-charge Allied Hospitals Professor Dr. Jahangir Sarwar Khan informed ‘The News’ that only in the month of May this year, as many as 677 victims of dog bites reached accident and emergency department of BBH while 490 victims reported at the emergency department of HFH after bitten by dog. The RTH received 315 cases of dog bites in the last month.

It is important that most of the dog bite victims reaching the allied hospitals in town are from the peripheries of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It is also alarming that a number of dog bite victims do not report at any healthcare facility instead follow home remedies for the treatment of wounds.

Health experts say that a dog bite victim must report to a public sector healthcare facility and follow a standard protocol to avoid rabies, which is 100 per cent fatal for both animals and humans after developing symptoms. People must be aware of the fact that rabies cases are more common in summer in this region of the world including Pakistan.

Studies reveal that in extreme hot weather conditions, the stray dogs get rabid more often. Also the dog bite cases register an upward trend in summer because animals including dogs tend to be more active during the warmer months and it increases the chances of their interactions with humans.

Rabies is one of the most neglected diseases in Pakistan though its incidence is very high with an estimated 2000 to 5000 cases every year meaning the disease claims 2000 to 5000 lives every year as it is 100 per cent fatal after developing symptoms. Rabies is said to be the mother of all infectious diseases and it is believed that nothing can be more painful and horrific than rabies.

Experts say that people must take measures to avoid dog bites particularly in warmer months and should not take dog bites as lightly. Studies reveal that rabies is an acute infectious zoonotic disease of the central nervous system, which can affect almost all mammals, including humans and is transmitted to other animals and humans through close contact with the saliva of infected animals through bites, scratches, licks on broken skin and mucous membranes.

In case of a rabid animal bite case, the virus spreads from the injured part to the nerves and on to the spinal cord that damaging victim’s brain ultimately results in death. It causes convulsions, inability to move and strange behaviour developing hydrophobia (an extremely intense aversion to water, especially the fear of drinking water or other liquids) in the victim exposed to the disease.