Kerala: Woman Waiting For Anti-Rabies Shot After Cat Bite At Healthcare Centre Gets Bitten By Dog

The woman was at the PHC for getting the third rabies dose for a cat bite. 

Stray dogs (File Photo)

Chennai: A woman, who was waiting to get an anti-rabies dose for a cat bite at a public health care centre near Adani Port at Vizhinjam, was bitten by a stray dog in the premises of the state-run medical facility on Friday. The woman was at the PHC for getting the third rabies dose for a cat bite. 

According to a report on IANS, Aparna (31) was waiting at a public health centre along with her father to get a shot. They arrived at the centre at 8 am and she sat on a chair. However, a dog that was lying under the chair suddenly bit her. She raised an alarm but the staff reportedly did not provide any first aid, said the report.

“It was a bystander of another patient who got a soap and cleaned my daughter's wound," the angry father said, as per IANS.

The woman was then reportedly referred to General Hospital in the city. The GH was located 15 kms where the woman was provided with “proper treatment”.

The dog bite has once again created panic since the stray dog menace has become widespread in Kerala.

Amid an increase in rabies infection, health experts earlier advised people to get a rabies vaccine before the animal attack. They said that immunity provided by the vaccine will not just prevent death but reduce the cost of treatment. 

The dog bite cases have increased drastically from 60,000 in 2013 to 2.2 lakh in 2021. It has already crossed 2 lakh in eight months of 2022. 

Till now, 21 persons also died due to rabies in the state in 2022.

The demand for anti-rabies serum has also gone up five times in the last five years, a report on The New Indian Express said.