Notice to hospital for delay in notifying rabies case

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a notice to Vikram hospital for delay in notifying it about a rabies patient.

A 31-year-old woman, bitten by a dog four months ago, was brought to the hospital on February 12 from Cox Town. The hospital informed the BBMP about this on February 14. She later died on Saturday.

The civic body said the dogs in the area were vaccinated only on February 17, as the hospital delayed informing it about the patient.

The hospital authorities refused to comment when contacted by DH.

Dr B K Vijendra, Chief Health Officer, Public Health, BBMP, told DH, “Even if it is a day’s delay, it is a delay. According to the rules, we are supposed to be informed about any rabies case immediately, as we have to keep any ferocious or rabid dog in the area in isolation, and have to vaccinate all the stray dogs in the area with an anti-rabies vaccine. We also have to study dog bite patterns if any.”

The animal husbandry department was informed immediately and a committee was formed to visit the area, the officer added.

Vaccination carried out

Anand G, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, BBMP, said, “We conducted ring vaccination for 52 dogs in Cox Town on Monday. We didn’t find any complaints about aggressive dogs in the area though. Else, we would have isolated any such dog that used to bite passersby.”

“Our job does not end there. Educating the public on how not to provoke dogs, how to deal with an aggressive dog, and what to do when bitten form a major part of our task at hand,” the officer added.

Fifth death

The woman’s death is the fifth in the city and the second case of dog bite under the Palike’s limits.

In January, a 40-year-old man died of rabies at the Epidemic Diseases Hospital. He was a resident of Hanumanth Nagar.

The other three dog bite cases were reported outside the BBMP’s limits. In 2019, a total of 8,994 dog bite cases were reported under BBMP limits.