PIMS receives over 4,700 dog bite cases in one year

Islamabad : Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences has received well over 4,700 dog bite cases in last one year including over 3,600 adult patients and well over 1,100 child patients and it was found that majority of patients were bitten by stray dogs.

As many as 3,610 adult patients after having dog bites were provided treatment at the PIMS emergency department while a total of 1,123 dog bite cases of children were given treatment in children emergency in last one year, said Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja while talking to ‘The News’ on Wednesday in connection with World Rabies Day being observed on September 28 around the globe.

He added that majority of the dog bite victims reached PIMS from the peripheries of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and from AJK and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It is important that in this part of the world, dog bite is the major cause behind almost all cases of rabies that is 100 per cent fatal for both animals and humans after developing symptoms.

Dr. Khawaja said the anti-rabies treatment, vaccination is very much costly however on the directives of PIMS Executive Director at Dr. Amjad Mehmood, all dog bite cases were provided proper treatment. Treatment for dog-bite victims is absolutely free of cost at PIMS, he said.

He said the dog bite victims who were bitten by domestic dogs were advised to vaccinate their pets to avoid rabies while the victims of stray dogs were advised to report to the concerned government authorities in their respective areas asking them to take proper action against stray dogs.

It is believed that annual number of dog bites in Pakistan is 100,000 to 150,000 of which 2000-5000 die of rabies every year. Rabies is preventable through immunization but in the acute stage of the disease, signs of hyperactivity (furious rabies) or paralysis (dumb rabies) predominate. Paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis followed by coma and deaths in all cases within 2-6 days due to respiratory failure.

Rabies is a severe viral disease caused by a virus ‘Rabdo-Virus’ carried in the saliva of infected animal and is transmitted to human beings through bites. It is fatal if not treated properly. It affects the central nervous systems of most warm-blooded animals and victims of such animal bites have to be immediately vaccinated. After exposure to the disease, the victim’s survival is almost impossible. 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.