Canine shot chained to one centre

KOLKATA: Dog-bites in the city onlygot more painful. Chances of a quick redress by a timely jab of the anti-rabiesshot have become more remote, with NRS Hospital no longer supplying the vaccineand Shambhunath Pandit Hospital – the other place where you get it –about to follow suit.That leaves one with two options. Queue up fromthe wee hours in front of the Pasteur Laboratory on Convent Lane in the easternfringes for free shots or buy the vaccine from medicine shops paying Rs 275 pershot on average for the six doses.In a recent order, the governmentannounced it would discontinue the facility from NRS and Shambhunath. NRS usedto treat about 100 dog-bite patients a day, Shambhunath around 130. Till sixyears ago, the only place to go for the vaccine was Pasteur Lab, but this led toa rush it could not handle. So, it asked the state for space from where it couldbe distributed. Enter Shambhunath and NRS. But now, said a health official,Pasteur has developed the infrastructure and should “handle the casesthere itself �.But experts say it would lead to suchovercrowding at Pasteur that patients would need to queue up from 5 am.“It is a disgrace that the serum is only available in one institution in acity like Kolkata. It should be available at strategic locations within thecity,� said Indian Medical Association joint secretary (headquarters) R.D.Dubey. Shambhunath Pandit Hospital superintendent Sukumar Das, however, feelsdistributing vaccines from the hospital was creating additional problems forbusy hospitals. So, the authorities of Shambhunath and NRS requested the stateto shift the rabies-shot facility to other, less crowdedplaces.“We are not admitting any new patients and routing themto Pasteur. Only those who had been given a few shots are being treated with theold stock,� said NRS superintendent S. K. Rudra.With the NRScentre closing down, the Pasteur Lab has already seen a huge jump in the numberof patients going there for treatment. “The centre remains open between 10am and 2 pm. Over 400 patients are coming here after the NRS facility closeddown. If you want anyone to have the injection, you will have to come latest by6 am,� said a Pasteur Lab staffer.