Children falling prey to stray dogs

HYDERABAD: Stray dogs in the city have bitten to death 146 people in the last five years. And if doctors administering anti-rabies vaccines are to be believed, many more children are falling prey to stray dogs.
If the quantum of anti-rabies vaccines provided by the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) is any indication, the number of rabies victims is expected to grow, with the city being home to more than two lakh stray dogs.
According to a doctor at the Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical Diseases (Fever Hospital) where rabies cases are treated, there were 15 rabies deaths in 1997; 20 in 1998; 34 in 1999; 35 in 2000 and 36 in 2001. Sixteen have died since this April.
IPM officials say that about 46,430 anti-rabies shots were given in 1997-98; 42,940 in 1998-1999; 45,797 in 1999-2000; 45,948 in 2000-2001; 47,416 in 2001-2002. From this April to September, 27,256 vaccines have been given. "About 70 per cent of the patients who come to IPM are children. Of these, two to three per cent are bites by pet dogs," an IPM doctor said.
"It is impossible to vaccinate the strays against rabies. The better option is to sterilise them. Even if 80 per cent of the strays are sterilised, the incidence of rabies will come down over the next few years," he said.