Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Sep 28: A whopping 3,300 bite victims, mostly of dog bites, were reported to the Anti-Rabies Clinic at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital since April this year.
The presence of dogs on every nook and corner has led to man-dog confrontation due to which the number of cases of dog bites has increased in the region, doctors say.
An official from ARC SMHS said that from 1st April 2022 till date as many as 3,300 bite cases were reported to ARC SMHS and most of them were from Srinagar.
Giving details, he said that among 3,300 cases, 20 we’re category-I cases, 1472 category-II cases and 1808 we’re category-III cases.
Giving yearly data of bite cases, he said that from April 1 2015 to March 2016, 7, 061 bite cases were reported to ARC SMHS, followed by 5,832 cases from April 2016 to March 2017, 6,802 cases from April 2017 to March 2018, 6,397 cases from April 2018 to March 2019, 6139 cases from April 2019 to March 2020, 4,808 from April 2020 to March 2021, 5,469 from April 2021 to March 2022 and 3,300 from April 2022 onwards.
He said that 45,808 number of cases have been registered in Anti rabies clinic from April 2015 to Sep 2022.
In Kashmir, dog bite is an important public health problem. Thousands of people become victims of animal bites, especially dog bites, and some of them develop rabies.
Rabies is an invariably fatal viral disease resulting in approximately 59,000 human deaths per year globally, with 95% of cases occurring in Africa and Asia.
The only way to prevent a rabies death is vaccination of an animal bite victim. In Kashmir, the burden and characteristics of dog bites are not routinely captured by the health system in place.
Notably, September 28 is observed World Rabies Day, a global health observance started in 2007 to raise awareness about the world’s deadliest infectious disease and bring together partners to enhance prevention and control efforts worldwide.
This year’s World Rabies Day theme was: “One Health, Zero Death”.
