Hot: Rabies outbreak appears, 40 people bitten by dogs, 1 person died

(Baonghean.vn) - In Hung Trung commune, Hung Nguyen district (Nghe An), a rabies outbreak has occurred. 40 people were bitten by dogs and are in panic after one person died.

Long-term outbreak

The outbreak began in mid-July 2016, when a rabid dog belonging to a household in Hamlet 2 bit two people and many other dogs in the area. At this time, one person had died from rabies....

The deceased victim was Ms. Hoang Thi Hao, born in 1978, living in Hamlet 2, Hung Trung Commune. In mid-July, Chi Hao went to buy scrap metal at the beginning of the hamlet and was bitten on the heel by a rabid dog. After being bitten by the dog, Ms. Hao went back to the hamlet 2 medical staff, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tinh (also a relative of Ms. Hao), for first aid. After first aid, on Mr. Tinh's advice, Chi Hao went to Nghi Loc District General Hospital for examination. However, here, Ms. Hao only received a tetanus shot, not a rabies vaccine.

It is known that the reason Ms. Hao did not get vaccinated against rabies was because she was worried that she was raising a young child (the youngest of her 6 children was only 6 months old), and that getting vaccinated would affect her ability to breastfeed. Listening to some relatives, Ms. Hao asked someone to get herbal medicine for treatment. While taking herbal medicine, Ms. Hao fell ill several times, feeling tired with many symptoms of rabies.

On September 27, 2017, Ms. Hao was taken to Nghe An Provincial General Hospital, but it was too late.

The Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine, Hung Nguyen District Medical Center and Hung Trung Commune People's Committee met to investigate the cause and discuss measures to contain the epidemic.

The dog died immediately after biting Ms. Hao. Before that, it also bit a child from Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district who was visiting Hung Trung commune. Before biting the person, the dog had bitten many other dogs in the area.

According to the report of Hung Trung Commune Health Station: In hamlet 2, about 10 people have been bitten by dogs since mid-July until now.

After the death of the victim, the Hung Nguyen District Medical Center said: There were about 40 people bitten by dogs during this time. All of these people believed and were treated with traditional medicine by the above-mentioned herbalist. After Ms. Hao died, 2 people in Hamlet 2, Hung Trung Commune went to the District Medical Center to get rabies vaccination.

Also according to the staff of Hung Nguyen District Medical Center: Although the incubation period was long with many clear symptoms, the center was not reported by the Commune Health Station that this phenomenon occurred.

Responsibility of health sector and locality?

The main responsibility for the outbreak of rabies in Hung Trung commune lies with the health station, village health workers and local authorities. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tinh, a health worker in hamlet 2, said: After bandaging Ms. Hao and a small child in Nghi Dien commune, he advised them to get vaccinated at the health center. However, when he learned that the victim had not been vaccinated but had been treated with traditional medicine, he did not take drastic measures to prevent it.

Through the discussion, the reporter found that: Mr. Tinh himself did not fully understand rabies as well as the treatment process. Mr. Tinh even had some misconceptions when he thought that "the cost of vaccination must be up to several million VND", while treatment with traditional medicine is much cheaper (In reality, 5 doses of rabies vaccine only cost about 1 million VND); Or there were superstitious beliefs to explain the very sad cause of Ms. Hao's death...

Immediately after being informed of the specific price of rabies vaccination service by officials from the Provincial Preventive Medicine Center and Hung Nguyen District Medical Center, Mr. Tinh promised to spread the word to people to get vaccinated immediately because it was "too cheap" and they had never known about it before.

Rabies can only be prevented by vaccinating pets and by immediately vaccinating people bitten by dogs with rabies vaccine and serum.

During the incubation period, Ms. Hao also went to Hung Trung Commune Health Station many times to get medicine for herself and her husband and children. Doctor Nguyen Van Dao - Head of the Health Station also grasped the situation of her rabies attack, but Mr. Dao himself was not determined in persuading and asking Ms. Hao to get vaccinated; the Health Station knew about the incident but did not report it to superiors or make recommendations to local people.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Vinh - Vice Chairman of Hung Trung Commune People's Committee admitted: The main responsibility for the rabies outbreak lies with the local government. When there was a policy of vaccinating livestock, the commune had many forms of propaganda for the people. However, the number of vaccinated livestock was low (only 400 dogs out of a total herd of 2,246 were vaccinated; in some hamlets such as hamlet 2, only 10 dogs were vaccinated); being bitten by a rabid dog, despite propaganda, people still went to drink tobacco.

Mr. Vinh also said that the commune health system and hamlet officials still lacked awareness. Specifically, the head of the health station knew that Ms. Hao had been bitten by a dog for a long time but had not yet developed the disease, so he was subjective. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh himself, the head of hamlet 2, was also bitten by a suspected rabid dog, but did not get vaccinated and instead used traditional medicine.

Currently, the people of hamlet 2 and neighboring hamlets of Hung Trung commune are very confused and worried about the epidemic situation. Immediately after being informed about the disease, the staff of the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine and the District Medical Center had a meeting with Hung Trung commune. Urgent measures were proposed: Hung Trung commune must by all means vaccinate the people bitten by dogs, as well as those related to the deceased victim; Enhance propaganda work, mobilize resources to vaccinate all dogs in the area; Focus on monitoring dogs and rabies...

Thanh Son