KARACHI, Jan 11: While the city is witnessing a rise dog-bite cases, the public hospitals, particularly those under the provincial health department, are facing an acute shortage of anti rabies vaccines (ARV).

During the first 10 days of the current month some 41 cases of dog bite were registered at the Civil Hospital Karachi, followed by 35 in the Lyari General Hospital, 28 each in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad. These hospitals reported non-availability of the ARV in their drugstores.

The situation was attributed to irregular supply of vaccines from the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS),Islamabad, the only agency responsible for meeting the ARV needs of almost all the government hospitals in the country.

The Civil Hospital sources said that a few vials of the phenolised sheep-brain vaccine had been received by them only recently after a gap of more than two months, yet they were very few compared to the requisition made to the NIHS.

“The supplies generally made to us are not enough to meet the needs,” a doctor complained added that the excuse forwarded by the vaccine-producing agency was little availability, on its part, of the required essential material.

Interestingly the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC), a federally administered institution, is no more relying on the NIHS supplied sheep-brain vaccines and through special funds for procurement of essential drugs is arranging the human dipleic vaccine (HDCV).

At Sindh government medical institutions, including teaching hospitals, it is mainly the doctors who arrange what is the required from their own pockets.

In Dec last year, when some 141 cases were brought to the CHK, vaccines for some 40 children were arranged on the personal initiative of the medical superintendent through an NGO, Alamgir Welfare Trust.

Till June last these hospitals were helped by Edhi Trust in arranging vaccines. However, owing to their institutional limitations they are in no position to continue with the arrangement.

The doctors associated with these centres suggested the establishment of round-a-clock essential drug banks at all government hospitals. Urging local philanthropists to support the cause by also managing the proposed banks with adequate provision for cold chain mechanism, the doctors said this would also help eliminate the rampant practice of misappropriation of drugs.

It may be reminded that the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) through a press release, a few days back, had also highlighted raise in the number of dog bite incidents in Karachi.

Since Pakistan is a rabies-endemic area, the bite of any animal, particularly dog, was suggested to be considered with suspicion.

Dr S.M. Afaq, Deputy Director NICH, stressed the need for post-exposure vaccination to ensure that one was immunized before the rabies virus reached the central nervous system.—APP