Thiruvananthapuram: Dog bite cases have seen a sharp rise in Kerala with a 12-year-old girl succumbing to the canine terror in Pathanamthitta on Monday highlighting the gravity of the issue. Questions are being raised over the efficacy of the Rabies vaccine after many victims died despite being jabbed. The girl, Abhirami a native of Ranni in the Pathanamthitta district was bitten by a stray dog when she had gone to buy milk on August 14.
She was put on ventilator support and died on Monday afternoon taking the number of rabies-related deaths in the state to 21 this year. Abhirami had received three doses of the rabies vaccine. Six people, including Abhirami, have died in the state despite receiving the rabies vaccine.
Abhirami's death comes amid debate over the quality of the rabies vaccine. In the past 6 years, 56 people have died of rabies in the state. Till August this year, 1,83,931 people were bitten by dogs. In 2017, 135749 bites were reported, in 2018, the number of dog bite cases rose to 148899, 161055 in 2019, 160483 in 2020 and 221379 in 2021.
Of the 21 dead due to the disease this year, 15 people did not get vaccinated as prescribed by the health department. One was partially vaccinated. Experts attribute the dog bite deaths in Kerala to the lack of a regulatory body to check the efficacy of Rabies vaccines. There is no system in Kerala to check the quality of vaccines.
Also read: Kerala: Minor girl bitten by stray dog last month succumbs at Kottayam Medical College
The state relies on the Central Drug Laboratory for tasks. Allegations are being raised regarding the quality of rabies vaccine distributed in Kerala, but the health department has dismissed them. It is expected that the vaccines will be sent to the Central Drug Laboratory as per the protocol from the Drugs Controller Department to get them checked as soon as possible.
Health Minister Veena George has denied the allegations regarding the efficacy of vaccines with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan setting up an expert committee to study the quality of the vaccine. The committee is chaired by the director of the medical education department.
Institute of Virology Director Dr E Sreekumar, WHO Collaborate Center for Reference and Research for Rabies Nimhans Bengaluru Additional Professor Dr Rita S. Money, Drug Controller, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Infectious Diseases Department Head Dr. Aravind, Palode State Institute for Animal Disease Deputy Director Dr Swapna Susan Abraham, Department of Health, Public Health Division Asst. directors are the members of the committee.
The government has decided to check whether there is a genetic variant of the rabies virus in the state. Genetic mutations that render vaccines ineffective are rare in rabies. But the government decided to conduct such research after rabies infection occurred in those who received the vaccine and serum. A complete genetic sequencing of the viruses collected from the state will be done at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.
