Dogs pose a threat to those health-conscious wanting to take a walk either in the morning or evening. The number of people taking a regular walk has increased in recent years.
However, the menace of stray dogs on the roads seems to pose another health hazard.
Statistics pertaining to number of dog bite cases raises the eyebrows of many. For, the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital had treated 24,800 people as outpatients for dog bite, besides another 346 as inpatients between January and October. Seven deaths due to rabies were also recorded at the CMCH.
Among the dog bite victims, those going on morning walks constituted nearly 90 per cent of the patients treated by the Anti-Rabies Unit of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. The more troubling thing, the doctors say, is that the number of patients treated at the unit has increased by nearly 15 per cent in the last six months alone.
Doctors advice those bitten by dogs to immediately wash the wound with soap in running water several times till the saliva of the dog is washed. They also cautioned applying materials such as lime on the wound or dressing the wound, unless it was a serious injury.
The process and nature of treatment depends on the gravity of the dog bite. In minor cases, the anti-rabies vaccine was administered in five dosages spread over a period of one to 28 days.
If the wound is severe, a single dose of anti rabies immuno-globin was also administered around the wound.
(Reporting by R. Sairam)
