Alarming rise in dog bite cases

Mohammed Arifeen

?In Karachi as over 600 visit one hospital in 15 days there has been a worrisome increase in the number of dog-bite cases in the metropolis as only one hospital treated over 600 cases in about two weeks. Experts attributed the spike in the cases to multiple factors including the growing number of dogs in the city. The manager of The Indus Hospital’s Rabies Prevention and Training Centre; Aftab Gohar said there here has been an unprecedented increase in the number of patients reporting at our clinic over the past two weeks. We have treated more than 600 new [dog-bite] cases in 15 days. He said that the total number of treated cases in two weeks was over 3,000 that included follow-up cases. Indus Hospital official says patients’ deep wounds suggest increased population of dogs infected with rabies. The cases were coming from across the city, he shared Patients were reporting with deep wounds in large numbers, suggesting that the population of dogs infected with rabies had increased in the city. Several cases in which a dog to victim, leaving him or her severely injured. This clearly suggests involvement of rabid dogs that can easily be identified by their abnormal behavior. They are aggressive and bite whatever they come across and may present with excessive spitting. Recently, we have managed cases of dog mauling from Landhi’s Sherpao Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Korangi Industrial Area and Qayyumabad he described. Several patients reporting at the Indus Hospital’s Korangi campus were being referred to the clinic from government-run tertiary care hospitals. This shows that these hospitals have run out of rabies’ vaccine and are forced to refer their patients to hospitals. It’s also alarming that rabies immunoglobulin a life-saving medication used together with the vaccine to prevent rabies infection in all cases of dog bite is not supplied to most hospitals in the government sector. This year, so far about 10,000 cases have been reported at the Indus Hospital, which witnessed over 9,000 cases last year Doctors at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre also confirmed the trend in dog-bite cases, linking it with high growth of dog population due to waste dumps dotting every nook and corner of the metropolis.

8,000 dog bite cases reported in 2021.Civil society groups demand measures to eradicate stray dogs. The dogs roaming in the city are found in form of gangs attack the passers-by, women and men walking in different places and children playing in the streets. During the past year 2021, almost 8,000 people including men, women and children were brought to DHQ Hospital Faisalabad after being bitten by stray dogs and seriously injured were provided medical aid by the doctors, whereas only 2,606 people were vaccinated due to dog bite. In spite of the large number of dog bite cases in the city throughout the past year, the health department and other relevant departments continued to maintain their silence and no measure has been taken over the matter. Civil society groups have demanded the concerned authorities to take effective measures to eradicate stray dogs. The p problem with stray dogs in the city is not new in the city, yet no measure has been taken by the government. Herds of stray dogs can be seen roaming almost every locality of the city at night. In 2014, stray dogs bit more than 1,550 people in Faisalabad and its adjoining areas in July. During the same period feral dogs have caused a number of accidents on roads, especially at night. Senior citizens are also subjected as victims of stray dogs. In the same year, a senior citizen was bitten by a stray dog. Akram Haidar, a resident of Chak 376-GB, reported that his grandfather was bitten by a stray dog. We immediately hired a private car to take the patient to Faisalabad as there was no ambulances in the rural health centre.There are many dogs in our village. No official or team of the Health Department has ever come to kill the stray dogs. The senior citizens had to struggle due to lack of vaccinations. Likewise in March 2020, eight children suffered dog-bite injuries in Bao Wala area. The victims were shifted to the Children’s Hospital where doctors referred them to the Civil Hospital due to a lack of vaccine. Residents protested against the district administration, claiming that repeated requests were sent to the authorities concerned, but no action was taken to eradicate stray dogs. The stray dogs attacked eight children aged six to 14 years near Jhang Road. The victims include seven-year-old Talha Fatima, 12-year-old Haider Ali, six-year-old Mohammed Ahmed, seven-year-old Sohail Ahmed and others. The victims were administered vaccine at Civil Hospital. District Health Officer Adnan Ahmed said that there was a shortage of medicines used in treating dog-bite cases. In 2014, stray dogs bit more than 1,550 people in Faisalabad and its adjoining areas in July.

?About 150,000 dog-bite cases were registered at hospitals across the province from January 1 to September 30, data released by the Sindh Health Department revealed. Karachi saw the highest number of dog-bite cases, numbering at 17,800, while Naushero Feroze reported 13,000, Khairpur 12,500, Kashmore 11,400, Dadu 11,300, Qambar-Shahdadkot 9,100, Sanghar 8,000 and Umerkot 7,500.Of all the cases registered in Karachi, 6,500 were reported at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, 6,000 at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, 5,000 at Indus Hospital and 300 at other district hospitals. The slum areas of Ibrahim Hyderi, Korangi, Surjani Town, North Karachi, New Karachi, Baldia Town, Orangi, Keamari, Mehmoodabad, Liaquatabad, Federal B Area, Sohrab Goth, Orangi and Golimar saw the highest incidence of attacks by stray dogs, with children and elderly persons being the most common victims. Meanwhile, Tharparkar, Hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan and Sukkur reported fewer cases during this time, according to the health department. A total of 195,761 dog-bite cases were registered in Sindh in 2019.

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