Protect children from rabies infection

A Specialist Paediatrician at the Child Health Department  of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Frank Owusu-Sekyere,  has advised parents to seek immediate medical attention for  children who are bitten by dogs, to protect them from getting infected with rabies. He expressed concern about this problem because he said a number of children were needlessly dying from rabies as a result of dog bites.

Dr Owusu-Sekyere described rabies as a fatal condition (death which cannot be avoided) when contracted, and pointed out that throughout the world, only one person had survived it.

He also said an average of two cases of rabies infection were recorded every month at the department and explained that what could save children who were infected with rabies was immediate attention at a hospital.

“Parents should always insist that their children suffering from dog bites are given the rabies vaccine, known as post-exposure prophylaxis, unless they are sure the dog has been vaccinated,” he stressed.

Dr Owusu-Sekyere described rabies as a viral infection in animals such as dogs, bats, raccoons etc which can be transmitted to human beings through contact with infected body fluids of the animal but more commonly  through their bites.

The main signs of rabies, he explained is abnormal behaviour of both an infected human and dogs. A dog which attacks its owner without provocation should raise suspicion of rabies, especially if it has not been immunised.

Dr Owusu-Sekyere added that the rabies virus travelled slowly to the brain and that, the closer the bite is to the brain, the earlier one would show signs of the disease.

“One will not see any symptoms of the disease until the child starts behaving abnormally.  At that stage, the virus is in the brain and so nothing can be done,” he stressed.                                                                                                       

Dr Owusu-Sekyere was concerned that many dogs found in neighbourhoods had strayed from their homes, which made it difficult for one to determine whether they had been vaccinated against the rabies virus or not.

He advised that since children were mostly attracted to animals, efforts should be made by all households to vaccinate dogs they live with as pets.

Dr Owusu-Sekyere said  if a child who had been bitten by a rabies-infected dog was administered with the rabies vaccine, but unfortunately is, for instance bitten again by another dog some months later, that child should be taken to the hospital to be given the vaccine again in order to protect him or her from rabies.

By Augustina Tawiah / Junior Graphic / Ghana