Ugyen Wangchuk, 28, and his friend were bitten by a stray dog on October 29. The dog died the next day. And then came the confirmation. The dog was rabid. Ugyen and his friend are currently undergoing treatment at the Gelephu Central Regional Referral Hospital.
Gelephu is seeing an increasing number of people bitten or scratched by dogs and other animals. “Carelessness” is cited as the reason for the increasing number of rabies cases.
“People don’t go near the dogs intentionally to get bitten,” said Ugyen Wangchuk.
The Gelephu hospital saw 107 people bitten or scratched by dogs and other animals last month alone. Of that 13 tested positive for rabies. All were bitten by the same rabid dog.
Health officials said home treatment like washing under running water for 15 minutes with soap will minimize the viral load by 90 percent and increase the vaccine’s efficiency. They added that people should not apply turmeric paste on the infected area, which is normally the practise in the south, as it will only worsen the infection.
Health officials are advising people to be careful while playing with their pets as rabies is fatal and the anti rabies vaccination is expensive.
