'Lost money and got sick' because of believing the herbalist's advice to treat a rabid dog bite

Danger lurks

In mid-May, at the intersection of Xieng Nua village, Yen Na commune (Tuong Duong), a dog suspected of having rabies appeared and chased and bit many people, causing people to run away. Because they were young and could not run away in time, two children aged 2 and 8 were bitten by this dog. "As soon as the incident was discovered, many people in the area shouted to each other to chase and beat the dog to death. However, no one claimed to be the owner of that dog," said Mr. Vi Van Thang - Chairman of Yen Na commune People's Committee.

Because the dog was beaten to death, the authorities have not yet determined whether the dog had rabies or not. Many households were then panicked and took their children to get vaccinated. Notably, not long ago, in this village, a student was bitten to death by a rabid dog. This is the latest suspected case of a rabid dog bite in Nghe An.

The habit of letting dogs roam freely always puts people at risk of being bitten by a rabid dog.

Every 15 minutes, one person dies from rabies in the world. This is the sad reality of the current rabies situation. Every year, rabies kills nearly 60,000 people, mostly children in developing countries. In Vietnam, statistics from the beginning of 2019 to now show that the whole country has had over 170,765 people exposed to rabies who had to be vaccinated against rabies. Previously, in the whole year of 2018, the whole country had 103 deaths from rabies (an increase of 29 cases compared to 2017).

In Nghe An, according to statistics from the provincial Center for Disease Control, since the beginning of the year, 5 people have died from rabid dog bites. The latest incident was a 7-year-old boy in Ma Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). More than 2 months ago, while playing with a strange dog, this boy was accidentally bitten on the arm and leg. However, because of his subjectivity, the family did not take him for vaccination. After the boy showed some unusual symptoms, the family took him to a traditional healer for treatment. When he was transferred to the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, the patient was beyond help.

A few months ago, also in Yen Thanh district, a 45-year-old teacher died from a rabid dog bite. The victim's family said that before Tet, Mr. T. was bitten by a stray dog. However, due to subjectivity, thinking that dogs rarely get rabies in winter, Mr. T. did not get vaccinated against rabies exposure. After that, he began to have unusual symptoms, so his family took him to the hospital for emergency treatment. Doctors diagnosed him with a severe case of rabies virus infection, so the hospital transferred him to a higher level for treatment. Although he was transferred to a hospital in Hanoi for emergency treatment, Mr. T. died due to the disease becoming severe.

After these two deaths, people rushed to get rabies vaccinations. However, Mr. Bui Trong Long - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ma Thanh commune said that due to the high cost, many households still faced difficulties and did not have money to get vaccinated.

According to Dr. Hoang Ngoc Dan - Nghe An Province Center for Disease Control, high costs are also a reason why people are complacent and do not get vaccinated even though they have been bitten by a dog. The cost of rabies vaccination is 1.5 million VND/person, not including serum injections which cost more than 1 million VND for an adult and about 500,000 VND for children. Since the beginning of the year, only nearly 5,000 people in the province have been vaccinated.

Never trust witch doctors

According to Dr. Dan, rabies often increases in the summer. The incubation period is long, the earliest is half a month, most are a few months, some are up to several years. The time of onset depends on the location of the dog bite. The closer the dog bite is to the central nervous system, the faster the victim develops the disease. Therefore, people who are bitten by dogs in the head, face, or neck need to be injected with anti-rabies serum as soon as possible within 12 hours of being bitten.

In case the dog is known to be rabid, sick or dies within 1 day after the bite, the person bitten belongs to a high-risk group and needs to be injected with serum first, then vaccinated against rabies. In case the bite is mild, occurs on the leg, far from the central nervous system and at the time of biting the person the animal was normal, the dog needs to be monitored for 10-15 days.

During the monitoring period, if the dog stops eating, dies, or goes missing, the rabies vaccine must be administered immediately. However, if you arrive at the medical facility late after the dog bite, the rabies serum injection will no longer be effective. It is best to get vaccinated immediately after the dog bite. You must get the full dose of vaccine according to the regulations, dosage, technique, and the correct interval between injections according to the instructions.

Since the beginning of the year, in Nghe An, 5 people have died from rabid dog bites.

Talking about the latest death case in Nghe An, Dr. Hoang Ngoc Dan said that after the hospital sent the child home, the family continued to take the child to a traditional healer for treatment. However, a few hours after taking the traditional healer's medicine, the child died. "Currently, people trust traditional healers very much. Whenever a rabid dog bites them, they do not take them to get vaccinated but instead take them to a traditional healer. It is very dangerous," Dr. Dan said, adding that many cases after being bitten by a dog were brought to a traditional healer for treatment and then recovered. But in reality, the dog that bit the person did not have rabies.

Doctor Dan said that when bitten by a rabid dog, not 100% of people get rabies, some get it and some don't. The risk of rabies infection depends on the amount of virus in the dog's saliva, whether the wound is deep or not, and if it breaks the skin, it is impossible to predict who will get rabies or not, and when rabies develops, it is generally fatal, so all people bitten by a rabid dog must be vaccinated against rabies.

Every year in our country, dozens of patients die unjustly because they believed the advice of traditional healers who examined them, prescribed medicine, and then ignored the vaccination.

To proactively prevent and control rabies, the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control recommends that people who are bitten, scratched, or licked by dogs or cats should thoroughly wash the wound with water and concentrated soap continuously for 15 minutes. If soap is not available, the wound must be rinsed with clean water - this is an effective first aid measure to reduce the risk of rabies when bitten by dogs or cats.

Then continue to wash the wound with 70% alcohol, iodine alcohol or povidone, iodine; limit bruising the wound and do not cover the wound. Go to the nearest medical center immediately for advice and timely rabies vaccination. And especially, absolutely do not trust the words of witch doctors.