Animal rabies in Thailand is at outbreak levels so far in 2018, with 359 confirmed cases of rabies reported in 37 provinces since the beginning of the year, health officials are concerned about the lack of knowledge the public has about the deadly viral disease.
Thai news source, The Nation reports that a survey given recently shows that 60 per cent of the 11,369 people who participated in the recent survey wrongly believed that rabies could be cured. Additionally, 34 per cent did not know that death is guaranteed if a person is bitten by an infected animal – unless they quickly receive a full dose of rabies vaccine.
To date, Thailand has seen three human rabies cases/deaths to date.
The North Eastern and Southern Regions of the country has seen the most rabies led by Roi Et and Surin provinces.
The highest number of rabies deaths reported in Thailand is 370 in 1980, according to the Bureau of Epidemiology, MoPH, Thailand (computer translated).
After that, there is a continuing downward trend. Less than 10 patients are diagnosed each year from 2011 to 2015.
The disease has risen to 14 cases in 2016, the highest in eight years and reduced to 11 cases in 2017.
Listen to rabies immune globulin brand director with Kedrion Biopharma, Peter Costa, MPH discuss what you should do if you are exposed to rabies in the podcast below:
Related:
- South Africa: Five human rabies cases confirmed since December
- ‘If you want to prevent humans from dying from rabies in Africa and Asia, you need to eliminate dog rabies’: Swiss researcher
- Public awareness campaigns are key in the fight against rabies: Study
- Florida reports 2nd human rabies death in recent months
- Everything you wanted to know about rabies
