Pune: 2 give anti-rabies jab a miss, succumb to virus in hospital

Pune: A man and a teenager have succumbed to rabies virus-induced complications at the civic-run Naidu hospital this month.

The two persons were residents of Pune (rural) and Satara and referred to the rabies treatment facility of the hospital for advanced medical care.

Both of them were bitten by stray dogs. However, they did not seek appropriate care post exposure to the dog bite. As a result, they developed classical rabies symptoms, doctors in the hospital said. With this, the number of rabies casualties has gone up to 17 this year at the Pune Municipal Corporation(PMC)-run hospital.

A doctor from the hospital said the 25-year-old man from Indapur in Pune district was admitted to the hospital on December 7. He died on December 8. The 17-year-old boy from Aawrde village in Satara district was admitted to the hospital on December 13 and died the following day.

The early symptoms of rabies are fever, headache, general tiredness and pain at the sites of the bites. As the disease progresses, neurological symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, confusion, hypersalivation, difficulty in swallowing and hydrophobia set in. Ignorance does much damage and patients from the fringes downplay the severe consequences of a stray dog’s bite.

Not all the 17 fatal rabies cases reported this year were from the city. “People from areas near the city also come to Naidu hospital for rabies treatment. The number of death because of dog bites is few in the city,” said Anjali Sabne, assistant medical officer of health, PMC.

Rabies is caused by a virus, after a dog bite, that invades the central nervous system and disrupts its functioning. The incubation period is usually several weeks to months in human beings, but can range from days to years. If bitten or scratched by any animal, it is important to consult a doctor, ideally within 24 hours.

“After vaccination, the human body takes several weeks to develop enough antibodies to successfully fight rabies. For vaccination against rabies, one needs a course of 3-5 injections. But for this, a patient needs to report to the hospital within 24 hours of the dog bite,” a health official said.