• Over 8,000 dog-bite cases reported from January at CHK, JPMC and Indus Hospital
• Official sounds alarm over rapid increase in canine attacks

KARACHI: Amid lack of government efforts to control canine population in the city and other parts of the province, at least six lives have been lost to rabies and more than 8,000 dog-bite cases have been reported this year so far at three hospitals in Karachi alone, it emerged on Wednesday.

Information gathered from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) and Indus Hospital showed that more than 8,000 dog-bite cases have been reported at the three major tertiary care health facilities this year so far.

The JPMC and the Indus Hospital have seen three deaths each from rabies this year. No death is reported at the CHK.

The latest death from rabies was reported at the Indus Hospital, where a man died on Tuesday.

Sharing details of the rabies case, Indus Hospital’s Rabies Prevention and Training Centre manager Aftab Gohar said the male patient, in his 40s, was bitten by a stray dog over two weeks back in his village in Pano Aqil and brought to the health facility two days back.

“The patient did not visit any hospital for treatment and reported with hydrophobia, aerophobia and mental instability at the facility two days back. We admitted the patient for palliative care,” he said, adding that he died on Tuesday.

According to Mr Gohar, the hospital is seeing a sharp increase in dog-bite patients and handling 150 cases on a daily basis. This number includes 70 to 80 old cases.

“We are also seeing a rapid increase in unprovoked bites, which is alarming,” he said.

Over 3,000 dog-bite patients have been treated this year so far at the hospital. Last year, over 15,000 dog-bite cases were treated at the hospital, which saw eight rabies’ deaths.

Doctors at the CHK seconded the opinion about spike in dog-bite cases and shared that the hospital had seen over 3,000 cases this year.

“Ninety per cent of the patients were based in Karachi. A majority of them were brought with deep wounds requiring the immediate administration of life-saving rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) along with the vaccine,” a doctor said, adding that over 16,000 dog-bite cases were treated last year at the CHK.

Sources at the JPMC shared that 2,400 dog-bite cases had been reported this year.

Experts believe that the continued increase in dog-bite cases is directly linked to the growing canine population in the city that could only be controlled through mass dog vaccination and sterilisation.

They also emphasise the establishment of dedicated centres at the district level for treatment of dog-bite injuries given the fact that rabies is fatal in 100 per cent of cases.

Deaths from the infection are preventable with prompt post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) by stopping the virus from reaching the central nervous system.

Rabies can be completely prevented if the wound is immediately and thoroughly flushed and washed with soap and flowing water, followed by an effective anti-rabies vaccine series and RIG injection into each bite wound.

A study, authored by Dr Naseem Salahuddin, had highlighted a gap in clinical and public health practices where rabies treatment following dog bites is grossly inadequate. It urged the government to improve infrastructure and supply chains for procuring vaccines and sustaining their availability, and to train staff in dog-bite treatment and adopt the one-health approach by vaccinating dogs and reducing their population by humane means.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2025