‘Stray dogs carrying rabies a threat to people’s lives’
By Haroon Ishaq for The Daily Times September 28, 2014#KARACHI: #Rabies is 100 percent fatal that stray dogs possess while active immunisation, proper diagnosis and #vaccination with #mass awareness is important to stop preventable disease.
During awareness seminar at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on #International Day against Rabies, being observed September 28, Dr Wasay Shakir, Associate Professor of Neurology Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and Dr Seemin Jamali, Director Emergency Department Jinnah Post Graduate Medical College (JPMC) spoke on the theme ‘Rabies, diagnosis, prevention and eradication.’
Dr Shakir said, “It has been among the oldest known diseases, almost entire of the world successfully eradicated this disease, accept Asia where Pakistan and other countries are still home for this fatal disease.”
Among one million rabies cases each year, about 900,000 are unable to survive the ratio of death is more than the ratio in any other known vaccine preventable disease.
Child and the inhabitants of slums are more venerable to the doge bites, according to the international data among the victims of rabies, about 35 to 40 percent are child and among them 80 percent belong to the slum areas where most of the stray doges are found.
Dr Seemen with the help of a multimedia presentation discussed the intensity of the disease and the techniques used to cure it. In many cases the victims due to fear and social barriers do not visit hospital due to which their preventable condition would became fatal, the rabies will not be cured if initial symptoms developed in the patient.
A bullet shape retro viruses called Lesa virus, which found in the saliva of rabid doge, cause rabies. It starts to infect the human brain weeks after it transfers into human blood during dog bite.
It is said to be 100 percent fatal but it can be immunised and vaccinated in the early stages. Rabies is caused by the rabid doges, which are about one percent of the population of the stray doges.
If a dog bites a human is rabid it will also dies in four to six weeks. The doctors in case of dog bite administer it, the wound should be cleaned with water and soap and victim should be transfer to the dog bite prevention centre without any delay.
Collaborated initiatives needs to be taken to eradicate this fatal disease including steps by the government to eliminate stray doges and active vaccination of victims as well the animals, which do not seems possible in Pakistan and also the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved vaccines should be made available to the patients.
Pakistan’s first public sector Dog Bite Centre is established at JPMC, which is working on the lines of WHO with its approved treatment techniques, provided free of cost.
She presented three cases of patients who died of rabies in last three months in JPMC, including one school going child, a pregnant mother and an old age person. They all could be saved if were properly vaccinated, she said.
Now the treatment has made much simple and less costly with Intradermal Regimen and WHO and Federal Drug Agency approved modern cell culture vaccines (CCV), the cost of the vaccination is now reduced by 80 percent.
KPC and Neurology Awareness and Research Foundation arranged the event. World Rabies day is being celebrated in 80 countries.
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