Rabies cases rise nationwide, human deaths reported

According to the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, 22 rabies-related human deaths were logged in Vietnam in the first two months of the year, more than double compared to the figure recorded in the same period last year.

The Central Highlands is widely considered to be the country’s rabies hotspot with five deaths.

Most notably, experts recently detected several rabies cases with a short incubation period, from 10 to 15 days. Among the cases, many children were bitten by cats and dogs and they suffered either facial or head injuries.

Since 2022, the number of human rabies cases has gradually increased in many localities across the country, mostly in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai (14), the central province of Nghe An (7), the southern province of Binh Phuoc (7), the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien (6), and the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre (5).

According to health experts, the majority of the victims who died from rabies were not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Other causes relating to the increase in rabies include the low vaccination rate for cats and dogs and the loose management of animals.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that rabies causes the death of 60,000 to 70,000 people and millions of animals each year.

Rabies is an extremely dangerous disease because when it occurs, patients generally die. However, many people remain negligent of the risks and do not fully understand the consequences of being bitten, so they show apathy or get treated in the wrong way.

The WHO has stressed that there is currently no drug that can cure rabies. The only way to save bitten people is to get a rabies vaccine as soon as possible.