The Government Fever Hospital in Hyderabad, where the majority of dog bite cases in the city are reported, has seen an increase in dog bite cases, with nearly 100 cases reported in a single day.
Dr Kondal Reddy, Professor of Medicine at the Government Fever Hospital, informed us that dogs will be more aggressive during this season, and the hospital is receiving 90 to 110 cases per day.
The doctor said, “In regard to the increasing number of dog bites in our area the first thing is that prevention is better than cure. Actually, there is no cure for rabies. It has 100 percent mortality.
Whatever may be the case, we should follow appropriate steps to escape from dog bites. If there are more street dogs, they should be notified to the authorities for sterilization and appropriate water facilities must be provided for them.
Mostly during the summer months, the dogs will be in a more furious state causing unnecessary bites to passerby people including children. People especially children should stay away from a group of street dogs.”
The doctor went on to discuss what should be done if a dog bite occurs.
He said, “Dog bite injuries are mainly of three types. Grade 1 is a slight scratch, Grade 2 is a deeper injury and Grade 3 is where underlying muscles are exposed.
Whether it is a domestic dog bite or a street dog bite, we used to wait 10 days to see if the animal was alive or dead. However, we are now immunising most dog bite cases that are higher than Grade 2.
When a dog bite occurs, immediately wash the wound with soap or detergent under running tap water for 10 to 15 minutes. This will keep rabies at bay for occurring up to 80 percent.
This is a crucial step that we can do at home. Simply putting a bandage on a dog bite wound is not correct. After this, the patient should be taken to the nearby hospital.”
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“Here at our hospital, the government has supplied free RIG (Rabies Immunoglobulin) and also monoclonal antibodies. We are also administering active immunization here during the night time and during the daytime.
We have also sent the cases to IPM for active immunization. There is no way to escape from death, once rabies has occurred in a person. Rabies can occur by the bite of a dog, domestic cat, wild cat or monkey.
Rabies vaccine should definitely be administered if a person is bitten by any of these animals. Here we give the human monoclonal antibody immunoglobulin that is Rabishield immediately to patients based on their body weight.
Later we will give active immunization on the following days that is 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28, a minimum of five doses. In case a second bite occurs in this time period, we still have to follow the schedule. During the summer months, the dogs will be more furious. The number of cases in our hospital is ranging from 90 to 110 now.”
A patient named Chinna, who came for dog bite treatment, said, “I have come to the hospital after a street dog had bitten me. I took a total of four injections here. There have also given me a schedule for further injections.”
Notably, the recent dog bite incident in Amberpet, Hyderabad, in which a small boy died as a result of a dog bite, has shaken the people of Hyderabad’s conscience.
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