Dog bite cases on the rise in city

 Hyderabad: With the mercury levels rising, dog bite cases too are in the city. In the past week there have been three instances of canine attacks in Neredmet, Bogulkunta and in Kompally, a 66- year-old succumbed to the rabies. 

People have been visiting the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) at Narayanguda and Fever Hospital at Korrenti. Dr K Shankar, Superintendent, Fever Hospital said, “If one looks at the data of the past three years, there are 34,000 cases registered per year at IPM and about 10,000 plus at Fever Hospital. The number of dog bite cases increases during summer.” 

Doctors say that in summer, dogs suffer dehydration and, as a result, become aggressive. Citing the main reasons for increasing dog bite cases, Dr Kavitha, medical officer at IPM, says, “despite awareness programmes people feed stray dogs, which should be avoided at all costs. She also blames the garbage problem. Sometimes these dogs eat animal waste and become ferocious, so their feeding on garbage is also something that needs to be looked into.” 

Last year, there were 34,563 dog bite cases recorded in IPM (Institute of Preventive Medicine) and 15,474 in fever hospital. Nearly 300-400 cases are recorded every day in IPM and 30-40 cases in Fever Hospital, officials mentioned and also added that people are lacking awareness about first aid measures. People from all over Telangana come to these two hospitals to get treatment for canine attacks as Hyderabad is the centre to treat rabies. First, the dog bite is treated in Fever Hospital with anti rabies serum and then the patient is sent to IPM for further treatment.

Even though officials are trying to educate the public about the dangers of dog bites and rabies disease, there is still rise in cases. According to the data shared by the officials from their respective hospitals, in 2016 IPM registered 36,851 cases and in Fever Hospital 11,775. In 2017 IPM has registered 36,095 cases, whereas Fever Hospital 12,692. In 2018 IPM has registered 34,563 while Fever Hospital has registered 15,474. 

As the treatment is free of cost, people are coming and taking treatment without any worries. The drugs used for the treatment are very costly, so upper middle-class people also come to government hospitals as the private hospitals charge a lot of money for the treatment.

Doctors said they use 0.2 ml of the drug for each person and they preserve it under 2-6 centigrade safely as it is very costly. They stated that there would be no shortage of drugs in either of the hospitals. Dr Kavitha says, "Not only street dogs, there are cases of pet dogs attacking, so every dog should be vaccinated twice a year." She also added that first aid should be immediately done after a dog bite then only we can slightly reduce the risk of rabies."