Every year from November to March, when the weather improves across most of India, and people begin to spill out of their homes, the mating season for dogs begins. This brings on aggression and bites and attacks increase. “There are on an average 6 to 7 million dog bites every year in India. Each dog bite will require five doses of vaccine. Many cases may also go unreported and not all patients who are bitten by dogs get their vaccines on time,” says Dr. Simmi Tiwari, joint director, Public Health in National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Between March 6 and 12, for instance four deaths by dog bite were reported by NCDC, according to its latest weekly outbreak report. None of the deceased had got the rabies vaccine after the bite. Those who had come into contact with the people who had died were advised vaccination.
Yet, in States like Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the emphasis on procurement of rabies vaccine is low, say government officials. “In other States like Kerala there was a shortage, so they raised demands for stocks to be moved from neighbouring Tamil Nadu,” another official from NCDC said. But earlier this year Central Research Institute in Kasauli had to discard excess vaccine vials due to lack of demand.
