According to statistics from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, in the first 7 months of 2023, the whole country recorded 45 deaths due to rabies. Of which, the North had the highest number of deaths (20 cases) compared to other regions (the South had 9 cases, the Central region had 5 cases and the Central Highlands region had 11 cases).

Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, Medical Director of the VNVC Vaccination Center System, said that rabies has the highest mortality rate among infectious diseases, with nearly 100% of patients dying when they have a rabies attack. In Vietnam, due to limited management of raising and confining dogs and cats; dogs and cats are not fully vaccinated against rabies, not muzzled and often let loose, the risk of people being exposed to the rabies virus is quite high. Rabies often increases during the dry season, from May to August every year, due to hot and humid weather causing the rabies virus to develop.

People get rabies vaccination at VNVC Vaccination Center System. Photo: PHONG LAN

According to Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, rabies has two forms, including the frenzied form and the paralytic form. In the frenzied form, the patient's first symptoms are high fever, headache, fever, fatigue, numbness and pain at the wound. When the virus penetrates deep into the brain, the patient shows signs of insomnia, fear of light, fear of noise, fear of wind, aggressive behavior, increased salivation, low blood pressure, confusion, muscle spasms, and cardiac arrest. The disease progresses to the point where the patient cannot chew, swallow, or drink water and often dies within a week of the onset of the disease.

Paralysis is less common, symptoms are paralysis of the whole body, urinary and bowel disorders, paralysis of the limbs. The patient will die immediately if the paralysis spreads to the respiratory muscles. When rabies occurs, the patient is completely conscious until death. The incubation period of the rabies virus is very complicated, it can be only 7 to 10 days but can also last for several years, depending on the severity and location of the animal bite. The more severe the bite and the closer it is to the central nervous system such as the head, face, neck or where many nerves are concentrated (extremities, genitals...), the faster the rabies virus will develop. If the wound is not treated properly, serum and vaccine are injected promptly, the patient can die in a short time.

Many people still believe that only bleeding wounds can cause rabies, or have the dangerous notion that rabies can be cured with traditional medicine, applying leaves, or going to a witch doctor to get poison. There are cases where people refuse to get vaccinated against rabies because they are afraid that the vaccine will cause memory loss or loss of intelligence... Experts confirm that there is currently no oriental medicine that has been researched and published that can cure rabies. The only way to prevent and treat rabies is to inject the rabies vaccine and anti-rabies serum. The VNVC vaccination system currently has two new generation rabies vaccines, including Verorab (France) and Abhayrab (India). These are all vaccines that have been tested for safety, confirming their high immune response after full injection.

Doctor Bach Thi Chinh recommends that when bitten or scratched by a pet, the victim must immediately wash the wound with soapy water under a clean, continuously running tap for about 10-15 minutes and disinfect the wound with 70% alcohol or iodine alcohol; then quickly go to a medical facility to treat the wound and get a rabies vaccine or anti-rabies serum injection as advised by the doctor as soon as possible, with the correct and sufficient dose according to the treatment regimen.

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