Dear Editor:
Stray dogs are the most likely to spread rabies to people in developing countries of Africa and Southeast Asia. Rabies is a virus that may affect the brain and spinal cord of all mammals, including humans. Annually, rabies causes the deaths of more than 50,000 humans and millions of animals worldwide.
Once symptoms appear; the disease results in fatality. According to Mayo Clinic, once a person begins showing signs and symptoms of rabies, the disease is nearly always fatal. For this reason, anyone who may have a risk of contracting rabies should receive rabies vaccines for protection.
Employing over 4,500 medical doctors and scientists, the Mayo Clinic is an academic medical centrr based in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. Besides, Mayo Clinic employs 58,400 administrative and allied health staff. It pays attention to incorporated clinical practice, education, and research.
In his long essay Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy wrote about Sarail hound and Monpura dog, but the doctor has not uttered a word about the danger of rabies spread by stray dogs and pet dogs. (“Dogs need care and attention”; the Holiday dated 18 April 2019).
In addition cats, cows, goats, horses, bats, foxes, monkeys and other animals also carry Rabies virus. Rabies is a deadly virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals. The rabies virus is usually transmitted through a bite.
The first symptoms of rabies may be very similar to the flu and may last for days. Later signs and symptoms may include: Fever, Headache, Nausea, Vomiting, Agitation, Anxiety, Hallucinations, Insomnia, Partial paralysis, Hyperactivity, Difficulty swallowing, Excessive salivation, Fear of water (hydrophobia) because of the difficulty in swallowing.
Once a person begins showing signs and symptoms of rabies, the disease is nearly always fatal. For this reason, anyone who may have a risk of contracting rabies should receive rabies vaccines for protection.
Why do dogs bite? Most attacks are usually unprovoked. There is much debate about which dogs attack humans the most. Most reviewers conclude that the higher risk animals include larger dogs, but all dogs should be considered dangerous; even smaller dogs inflict severe bites. Children with facial or cranial bites need cervical immobilisation until cervical lesions are excluded.
Most reviewers conclude that the higher risk animals include larger dogs, German shepherd dogs, pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, and chows, but all dogs should be considered dangerous; even smaller dogs such as terriers inflict severe bites. (National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD, 20894 US. Email – [email protected])
Sometimes fatal, bites and injuries caused by dogs particularly affect children. Every year in the United Kingdom 250,?000 people who have been bitten by dogs attend minor injuries and emergency units and some of them are admitted to hospital for surgical removal of damaged tissue or foreign objects from a wound, or intravenous antibiotics. Wound management is as important as use of antimicrobials in preventing infection. Primary closure should be avoided in limb injuries where possible because of increased risk of infection.
Shafiq Adnan Nabil
Neelkhet, Dhaka