ALARMING RABIES CASES. The Iloilo City Veterinarian’s Office and the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association conduct free neuter and spay activities for dogs and cats in Iloilo City to control the animal population and to address rabies.The Department of Health-Center for Health Development 6 (Western Visayas) calls for responsible pet ownership amid the alarming human rabies death in the region this year. (PNA contributed photo)
ILOILO CITY -- The Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development (CHD) 6 (Western Visayas) appealed to the public to be responsible pet owners as it warned that the region has the second highest human rabies deaths in the country.
Ame Liz G. Mardoquio, program coordinator of the CHD 6 Rabies Prevention and Control Program, said on Wednesday that they recorded 17 human rabies deaths from January to May, two of which were confirmed by laboratories as positive.
Three of the total number of cases were found negative based on the polymerase chain reaction (a laboratory technique used to make multiple copies of a segment of DNA) conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the rest are probable cases but the diagnoses were death secondary to rabies based on their death certificates.
She added that they have so far investigated 10 cases so the remaining seven are still probable cases.
“The Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH) said that we are now in the top 2 in the whole Philippines when it comes to rabies death, next to Region 3 (Central Luzon),” Mardoquio said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The highest death was in Negros Occidental with eight. Aklan and Iloilo province each has three cases; Capiz has two; while Iloilo City has one death. Six of the death cases were children less than 13 years old.
As of the first quarter of the year, the region recorded 22,206 animal bites. They have yet to get the consolidated report for animal bite cases for the second quarter.
Mardoquio cited that in 2018, the region logged 93,520 animal bite cases with 17 human rabies deaths.
On Wednesday, the Rabies Technical Working Group gathered provinces with human rabies deaths to talk about preventive measures and control programs to address the increasing cases.
“You are all aware that we have shortage in terms of vaccine for humans. At the same time, the vaccine allocation for canine is also limited,” she said.
She added the PHP8.1-million worth of vaccine that was procured in the last quarter of 2018 had already been allocated to animal bite treatment centers (ABTC).
As of December last year, DOH has certified 48 ABTCs in the region. The ideal ratio is one ABTC for every 100,000 population.
In May, the region received some 24,000 vials from the DOH central office.
“The region needs 37,000 vials of vaccine per quarter. More or less we have allocated 64 percent of the needs of the ABTC based on the need of the region for one quarter,” Mardoquio said.
The DOH central office also committed to send in more vaccines apart from the PHP15.6 million budget that it downloaded to the regional office. The vaccines are expected to be available sometime in August.
“The immediate action is to be responsible pet owners. Let us not allow our dogs to roam,” she said.
She said the DOH will intensify its advocacy campaign while the provincial rabies coordinators were advised to tap schools and do orientation on the risk when bitten by animals.
Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, medical coordinator for the Rabies Prevention and Control Program said that the public should not be complacent.
Te added that rabies is preventable if there is early consultation and vaccination.
“They should seek consultation the soonest possible time in case of bite and scratch or if cats and dogs have licked their wounds. There are high-risk areas such as above the head, fingers and toes and chest,” she said, adding that the 17 who died did not have immunization.
To augment the need for anti-rabies vaccines, Te encouraged local government units to purchase their own medicines. (PNA)
