29 die of rabies in Vietnam in four months

Last year saw the entire country record 82 deaths caused by rabies, with more than 675,000 people being treated due to the infectious disease. The majority of them were bitten by dogs and cats, while others were bitten by other animals such as mice and monkeys.

The department stressed that number of people killed by rabies during the first four months of the year showed signs of an increase in the disease.

Hoang Minh Duc, director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, shared that August and September typically represent the peak time for rabies cases.

However, he added that this year the sudden increase in rabies cases occurred in the first months of the year. This may be directly related to a general increase in rabies cases occurring in animals since 2023.

Most notably, health experts recently detected several rabies cases with a short incubation period, from between 10 to 15 days. Among the cases, many children were bitten by cats and dogs and they also suffered either facial or head injuries.

They noted that the majority of the victims who died from rabies were not vaccinated or were not fully vaccinated. The other causes relating to the increase in rabies include the low vaccination rate for cats and dogs and the loose management of animals.

Rabies is an extremely dangerous disease because when it occurs, patients generally die. However, many people remain negligent of the risks that it poses and do not fully understand the consequences of being bitten, so they are apathetic about the impact of being bitten or get treated in the wrong way.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is currently no drug that can cure rabies. The only way to save bitten people is to get a rabies vaccine as soon as possible.