When Xin Wei, a postgraduate student at the
China University of Geosciences in Beijing, was given the last of four rabies
shots, she finally felt a sense of relief.
The 25-year-old
had been scratched by a cat, which she initially thought wasn't a big deal. But
she went straight to the hospital after her mom told her about the risk of
rabies.
About
12-15 million Chinese get rabies vaccinations every year, costing 3.5-5 billion
yuan ($554-791 million), according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
In
Beijing, home to 1 million registered - and many unregistered - dogs, nearly
200,000 people get rabies vaccinations annually.
Wang
Chuanlin, deputy director of the emergency department at Peking University
People's Hospital, says more than 8,000 are vaccinated at his hospital every
year. Summer is the peak time, and he sometimes deals with up to 70 patients a
day.
China
is second only to India in the number of human deaths from rabies, says Tang
Qing, a researcher with Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention of
CDC.
There
were 1,917 human deaths from rabies on the mainland, including five in Beijing,
in 2011, CDC figures show. Most cases were in the South and Southwest,
particularly in the countryside of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and
Guizhou, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces.
Ministry
of Health statistics from 2009 indicate dogs were responsible for 85-95 per
cent of rabies cases, while cats caused 4-10 per cent. The rest were caused by
wild animals, such as wolves and mongooses.
"High
risks groups are children and the elderly. Kids like to play with dogs and may
not tell if they are bitten," Wang says.
Rabies
vaccines should be taken for minor scratches or abrasions, even if there is no
bleeding, Wang warns.
"Rinse
the wound with running water for more than 15 minutes, and take the vaccine as
soon as possible," Wang says, adding immunity develops after 10-14 days.
The treatment usually takes four or five injections and costs about 400 yuan
(US$63).
Yin
Wenwu, office director of CDC's Institute for Epidemic Disease Control and
Prevention, stresses healthy animals won't spread rabies and the most cost-effective
way to prevent the disease is to give dogs the vaccine, which costs just 50
yuan.
It is
estimated that vaccination coverage of 70 per cent of the dog population can
prevent 96.5 per cent of rabies cases.
The
vaccination coverage rate for pet dogs is low in China compared with Western
countries, Tang, the CDC researcher, says.
In some
foreign countries, it's legislated that dogs must be vaccinated against rabies
every year. But the rules in China vary from city to city, and there is no
effective monitoring system, Tang says.
In
Beijing, for example, pet-owners can get free vaccinations for registered dogs.
But the problem is many people don't register their dogs because of the high
fee, says Liu Lang, vice-president of the Beijing Small Animal Veterinary
Association.
The
situation in the countryside is more serious because many people are not aware
of the importance of vaccinating their dogs, Tang says.
In
2004, the government started to tackle the disease by promoting dog
vaccinations, and post-exposure treatment, especially in the countryside.
In some
areas, human rabies vaccinations are covered by the public healthcare system,
which offers affordable medical services to rural residents.
Rabies
cases rose from the mid-1990s and peaked at 3,300 in 2007 but has since
dropped.
"The
rabies situation is improving, but we need to do more," Tang says.
"The
prevalence of rabies in dogs is due to the way we raise dogs - the
irresponsibility of owners and the veterinary system. Governmental departments need
to cooperate to initiate change."
Liu
Lang says all dogs in Beijing should be vaccinated and be injected a chip,
which stores its basic information and health record. This is done in such
cities as Jiangsu's provincial capital Nanjing. At the same time, the adoption
and management of homeless animals should be strengthened.
"It's
the owner's responsibility to raise a pet in a proper way," Yin says.
"If you love your pet you should know more about it and make sure it is
regularly vaccinated."
Xu Lin
China
Daily
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