95 Percent of Rabies Cases in Indonesia Caused by Dog Bites – Ministry of Health

CNN Indonesia

Sunday, 04 Jun 2023 01:19 WIB

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

Ministry of Health states 95 percent of cases of transmission rabies in Indonesia so far caused by dog ​​bites.

“95 percent of rabies cases in humans are obtained through the bite of an infected dog,” said Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Imran Pambudi in a press release, Saturday (3/6).

Imran said that animals that can transmit rabies to humans are not actually dogs. There are several other types of animals that can transmit through bites.

However, referring to rabies cases in Indonesia so far, most of them are caused by dog ​​bites.

“There are also various wild animals that act as virus reservoirs on various continents such as foxes, raccoons and bats, but 95 percent are due to dog bites,” said Imran.

The Ministry of Health noted that as of April 2023 there had been 31,113 cases of bites by rabies-transmitting animals, 23,211 cases of bites that had received an anti-rabies vaccine, and 11 cases of death in Indonesia.

Imran said that most of the deaths from rabies were caused by delays in being brought to health facilities (Faskes). According to him, they came to the health facility more than one month after experiencing bites.

“On average, they panicked when they went to the Health Facility after they found out that the dog that bit them had died. So the first thing to do if bitten by a dog is to go to the Health Facility as soon as possible to do a wound test,” said Imran.

Imran said that currently there are 25 provinces that are endemic for rabies. However, only eight provinces are free of rabies, namely the Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, DI Yogyakarta, East Java, West Papua and Papua.

The status of extraordinary rabies events (KLB) in Indonesia, he said, had been determined in two districts namely Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and South Central Timor Regency (TTS).

He explained the rabies situation in Indonesia from 2020 to April 2023, an average of 82,634 cases of bites per year. Then nearly 57,000 anti-rabies vaccines have been administered.

“Rabies is a big challenge in Indonesia because in the last three years there have been an average of more than 80,000 cases of bites per year and an average of 68 deaths,” said Imran.

According to him, the main way to prevent rabies transmission is by vaccinating dogs. The reason is, if these animals that carry rabies roam and are not protected by vaccines, there is always the potential to transmit rabies to humans.

Imran also explained that by 2023 the Ministry of Health had procured 241,700 vials of vaccine for humans and 1,650 vials of serum.

Currently, the vaccine and serum have been distributed to the province, nearly 227,000 vials of vaccine and more than 1,550 vials of serum. He said the vaccines held were a buffer, not the main one.

“The availability of anti-rabies vaccine in the field varies greatly. But what is clear is that the government already has the stock to procure and distribute it to the provinces,” he said.

Imran mentioned several first aid steps if someone is bitten by a rabies-transmitting animal such as a dog. First, immediately wash the bite wound with soap or detergent in running water for 15 minutes, then apply an antiseptic and the like.

The next step is to take him to the health center or hospital to wash the wound again and get the Anti-Rabies Vaccine (VAR) and Anti-Rabies Serum (SAR) according to the indications.

Rabies cases emerged after a village in South Central Timor was isolated due to an Extraordinary Rabies Circumstances (KLB) since Tuesday (30/5).

The case of rabies in South Central Timor was known from reports on the results of testing the organs of two dogs which tested positive by the Laboratory of the Denpasar Veterinary Center.

The rabies case in TTS has claimed one fatality, namely AB (45), a resident of Fenun Village, South Amanatun District.

(other/bmw)