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‘Canine rabies preventable with modern vaccines’

By M. Waqar Bhatti
September 29, 2016

As many as 12 persons have witnessed one of the most painful forms of death in Karachi this year as they were bitten by rabid dogs but ,unfortunately, failed to get them vaccinated timely against the vaccine-preventable disease, health officials expressed on Wednesday on the eve of World Rabies Day 2016.

“Over 4000 people who were bitten by stray dogs timely went to tertiary healthcare facilities like the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where they were vaccinated which saved them from developing rabies,” said JPMC Joint Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali told The News.

 “This year, the theme of World Rabies Day 2016 is ‘Educate, Vaccinate and Eliminate’,” said Dr Jamali, adding that if a person was bitten by dog or any other animal, the wound must be washed immediately with tap water and the victim should be taken to any hospital where the rabies vaccination was available.

“Washing the wound with plain, tap water flushes out most of the viruses and then the affected person should be taken to hospital. In Karachi, the anti-rabies vaccination is available at the JPMC, the Civil Hospital Karachi and the Indus Hospital”, she informed.

Dr Jamali lamented the death of 12 persons from outskirts of the city and rural parts of Sindh, who had faced painful deaths after they were bitten by rabid dogs as they did not get themselves vaccinated or they quitted vaccination before getting all the required doses.

In case of dog bite, a person is given five injections of the anti-rabies vaccine in the muscles (intramuscular), and an injection of immunoglobulin (antibodies) separately over a period of several weeks, Dr. Jamali said, adding that now the majority of people didn’t develop the dreaded disease of rabies if the patient was timely and properly vaccinated, she added.

She claimed that in 2015, around 6,590 persons were vaccinated against rabies, including women and children, adding that the majority of the victims were children, who could not defend themselves against dogs.

“On a daily basis, 70 to 80 persons are brought to the JPMC for vaccination and treatment, which shows the severity of the situation. We have sizeable number of stray dogs on our streets and they are freely attacking people”, she remarked.

Experts said only three hospitals in Karachi, namely the JPMC, the CHK and the Indus Hospital, were vaccinating victims of dog bites.

Even the CHK and the Indus Hospital refer their patients to the JPMC due to unavailability of the anti-rabies vaccine, they maintained.

Currently, the anti-rabies vaccine, whose generic name is “Vero Cell”, is being purchased from India, they said, adding that there was an immediate need to prepare the vaccine in Pakistan to lower the cost of preventing rabies to a large number of people.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, dog vaccination is the most reliable, sustainable and cost-effective way to prevent people from rabies. Although dogs are the primary source of rabies, however, the disease could affect other animals too and it is wise to vaccinate all your animals against rabies, particularly livestock.

They said the rabies was currently responsible for an estimated 59,000 human deaths a year, almost all transmitted via dog bites. Up to 60 percent of deaths from rabies are of children under the age of 15. Very few victims have access to the palliative care that would alleviate the suffering of their final days.

Despite its almost 100 percent case fatality rate, canine rabies is completely preventable with modern vaccines, experts believe.