More than half of the persons who died of rabies from 2018 to 2022 in Tamil Nadu did not get vaccinated against rabies. In fact, an analysis of these deaths showed that pet dogs were the major source of infection.
In a study - Secondary Data Analysis of Rabies Deaths Reported in Tamil Nadu for the last five years (2018-2022) from Case Investigation Forms (CIF) - published in the State’s public health journal, researchers of the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine took a closer look at 121 rabies related deaths that were registered in the Zoonotic division of the Communicable Disease section of the DPH. Secondary data on the determinants leading to death were obtained from the CIF used in T.N. CIF, the authors said, was a verbal autopsy tool used by trained healthcare workers to collect details from relatives/close acquaintances of the deceased.
The analysis showed that the majority of the victims were men - 97 - of which 25 were aged between 41 and 50 years. About 70% of the victims were from village panchayats, while only 8.5% were from corporation/urban local body areas.
