Ministry of Health: 63 people died of rabies in 2017
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On January 6, representatives of the Preventive Medicine Department (Ministry of Health) said that rabies occurred in 31 out of the63 provinces of the country in 2017. The northern region is considered for the hotbed of the rabies virus, accounting for over 71% of the rabies cases.
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| Ministry of Health: 63 people died of rabies in 2017. |
16 provinces in the country that have over 5 deaths from rabies per year are considered localities of high risk. Most death cases occurred as patients did not go to get vaccinated after having been bitten by dogs.
In Thanh Hoa province, where 5 people died from rabies in 2017, Ly Van Xuan (11 years old, in Muong Chanh commune, Muong Lat district) was one of the victim.
Although he was bleeding after the incident, Xuan was not taken to hospital but used homemade medicine, instead. It was too late when Xuan was taken to hospital.
Besides Xuan, 6 other local people were also bitten by the dog, but only 2 of them were vaccinated.
Experts from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology also warned that their many-year study shows that up to 15-20% of the deaths from rabies results from the use of homemade medicines without going to hospital.
According to experts, rabies is an acute infectious disease that spreads from animals to humans. After incubation period, the untreated rabies virus then causes an acute encephalitis and is incurable.
However, rabies can be treated by the vaccine. Therefore, people should get vaccinated after being bitten by animals carry rabies.
According to the Preventive Medicine Department, after being beaten by animals carry rabies, the victims should follow these steps to reduce the risk of rabies: Wash the wound thoroughly with clean water and soap for 15 minutes continuously - this is an effective first aid to reduce the risk of rabies; wash the wound with 70% alcohol, iodine alcohol or Povidone; then go to the hospital to get vaccinated.
