With a view to reduce the response time for incidence of dog bites, the Health Department has now made available, at primary health centres, rabies immunoglobulin (RIG), which hitherto was available only at Government hospitals and tertiary care centres such as Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
S. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of Health Services, told The Hindu here on Saturday that this move acquired significance since rabies was 100 per cent fatal if not treated at an early stage.
Making the RIG available at 51 primary health centres and the urban health centres, which come under the Corporation, would significantly reduce the response time to dog bites. The RIG was given only to Category III cases of dog bites. These are the most severe cases in which the dogs had either scratched or bitten a person on an existing open wound which could lead to infection.
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RIG administration near the wound was immediately done to counter the spread of the virus.
In the other two categories of I and II, only wound management and administration of anti-rabies vaccine was done, he added.
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The PHCs maintained a register of all dog-bite patients and carried out follow-up measures to ensure patients took the four doses of vaccines given on the same day of the dog bite, and on the third, seventh and the 28 day after the dog bite. Further, on the eve of World Rabies Day, observed annually on September 28, Dr. Somasundaram said that the Department was also planning a multi-agency response to dog bites.
Town panchayats and village panchayats and other departments such as Animal Husbandry besides non-governmental agencies were being roped in under this campaign against rabies.
A coordination meeting would soon be held as part of this campaign.