27,000 dog-bite incidents registered this year: MoPH

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has registered 27,000 dog-bite incidents, including rabies dog-bite during the ongoing year, an official said on Saturday.

Doctor Sharafat Zaman, the spokesman of MoPH told Pajhwok Afghan News, the MoPH has registered 27,000 incidents of dog-bites during this year. Eighteen of the victims died.

Majority of the rabies dog-bites incidents occurred in Kabul city by the homeless dogs, he said.

The hospitals of the country have over 8,000 doses of rabies vaccine jabs which are injected to the victims of dog bit bites upon their referral to the hospitals, Zaman added.

Mohammad Farid Wasiq, a vaccinator at Kabul’s Antani Hospital said, we have witnessed increase in dog-bite incidents, while our hospital received from 30 up to 40 dog-bite patients on daily basis.

Majority of the victims of such incidents are teenagers — from 10 to 15 years — while some elders also felt victims, Wasiq said.

Since the sixth month of ongoing year 6,027 dog bit incidents registered, said Wasiq, adding that majority of these incidents were stray dog bit while few incidents caused by home dogs, Zaman added.

There was no record of fatality from dog bit in Kabul because the vaccine is administered in time while dog bit patients coming from other province sometimes died due to late vaccination, he said.

The rabies virus transmitted by dog-bit and it is fatal, if the victim is not rushed to the hospital in time there the possibility death from the virus because all stray dogs are not vaccinated, said wasiq.

Wasiq said: “I advise the people to refer the dog bitten victims to the hospital as soon as possible to avoid the symptoms of rabies in the patient, because rabies kills humans, they must also take four doses of its vaccine which cures rabies disease 100 percent”.

Wasiq expressed his concern about the surge in the number of stray dogs bite incidents and asked the officials of the relevant governmental bodies to vaccinate all such dogs.

Salahuddin, a victim of dog bite who came to the hospital for vaccine, said: “I was on the way to Kabul Education Department about five days ago, when the dog bit me in the street, so I came to get the vaccine”.

The doctors of the hospital advised him to take all the four courses of the vaccines to avoid the return of rabies disease.

Mohammad Kamal is another victim of dog bite who has also come to take his vaccine jab, he said: “I was on the way to Madrasa about four days ago when a dog bit me, when I came to the hospital of the treatment of my hand’s wound, the doctors advised me to complete the four courses of rabies vaccination.”

They asked the officials to round up the stray dogs from the streets of the city.

Niamatullah Barakzai, the spokesman of Kabul municipality told Pajhwok that the personnel of municipality vaccinated over 9,000 stray dogs during the past year.

He said operation against stray dogs was ongoing in different municipality in Kabul and added more efforts would be taken in the near future to address the issue.

Aw/nh

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