Ignorance causing more rabies deaths

Kathmandu, September 28

A total of 11 persons have lost their lives due to rabies this year at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.

According to STIDH, all these rabies patients were referred to the hospital from different parts of the country.

Despite efforts of the government, including free rabies vaccination, many people lose their lives each year due to the disease.

According to the hospital, 19 cases of rabies were diagnosed in the hospital in fiscal 2018-19. They later succumbed to the disease.

Rabies is a viral infection that attacks the central nervous system and spreads commonly through the bite of an infected dog, cat, bat, or jackal.

World Health Organisation has set a target of eliminating dog-transmitted rabies by 2030. WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control have established a global ‘United Against Rabies’ collaboration to provide a common strategy to achieve ‘zero human rabies deaths by 2030.’

“To meet the goals of zero rabies death in Nepal, local and provincial governments should notify each rabies case to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division so that we can identify vulnerable areas and come up with effective programmes and plans to control rabies,” said Anup Bastola, Consultant Tropical Medicine at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.

“Vaccinating dogs en masse is a must if we are to bring the number of rabies deaths to zero. It is the most cost-effective method,” said Bastola. “Though vasectomy helps decrease the number of dog population, mass vaccination of dogs helps control rabies that is transmitted from animals to humans and to animals,” added the doctor.

There is sheer negligence among people about dog bites. People are ignorant and unaware about rabies. Many people come to the hospital only after they develop symptoms of rabies. They visit the hospitals with signs of hyperactivity, excitable behaviour, hydrophobia (fear of water) and sometimes aerophobia (fear of drafts or of fresh air). Every dog bite should be taken seriously and immediate medical help should be sought. Proper health education and information about rabies should be given to people across the country if we are to report zero cases by 2030, he added.

The World Rabies Day is celebrated on September 28 each year with the aim of raising awareness about rabies prevention. This year it was celebrated with the theme ‘Rabies: Vaccinate to Eliminate’.

According to World Health Organisation, dogs are the main cause of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans. People are infected after being bitten or scratched by an infected animal. Transmission can also occur when infectious material, usually saliva, comes in direct contact with human mucus or fresh skin wounds.

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