Even as rabies scare continues to haunt people in the aftermath of the death of two dogbite victims due to the dreaded virus in the district during the last fortnight, the district administration has launched a poster campaign as part of a preventive strategy to check the menace of stray dogs and prevent rabies.
It may be noted here that one more dogbite victim P. Kanthaiah, 65, of Nagupalli village in Dammapeta mandal died of suspected rabies at a private hospital in Sattupalli on Tuesday night. However, officials of the Medical and Health Department attributed his death to old age related “health complications.”
Collector Siddharth Jain released a set of posters specially designed to create awareness among the public on rabies on Wednesday. Speaking at a meeting held in this connection, Mr. Jain said that proper awareness was the key to prevent rabies.
“The poster campaign is aimed at making people aware of the preventive measures to keep rabies at bay. The posters contain information highlighting the necessity of taking all the prescribed doses of anti-rabies vaccine in time by the persons bitten by dogs,” he said.
Instructions to staff
Strict instructions were issued to the medical staff of government hospitals and PHCs in the district to administer all the doses of anti-rabies vaccine to the dogbite victims without any delay, he said.
“A helpline has been set up at the office of the District Panchayat Officer to enable the people in the gram panchayats to register their complaints on the menace of stray dogs,” he said. Appropriate steps were initiated to control the stray dog menace.
Responding to a specific question during the meeting, District Medical and Health Officer B. Jayakumar said that Kanthaiah of Nagupalli died of suspected health complications associated with old age. He was suffering from hypertension and other disorders, he said.
The Collector asked the DMHO to make a detailed inquiry into the incident and submit a report at the earliest.
