THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Street dogs in the vicinity of the Medical College Hospital and the General Hospital, of late, have been reportedly attacking patients and their bystanders. Whether this has any connection with the closure of the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant is yet to be analysed; but, the residents in the Medical College area allege that the dogs are being fed by the waste that gets accumulated on the hospital campus.
The Medical College campus also houses the SAT Hospital, Dental Hospital, Sree Chitra Tirunal Centre for Medical Sciences and Technology and the Regional Cancer Centre.
Many bystanders at these hospitals have been bitten by the dogs.
‘’My son was bitten by a dog and the wound needed eight stitches. Besides, I had to spend ` 19,500 for the anti-rabies vaccine,’’ said P K Raju, Hospital Development Society member of the SAT Hospital.
A Right to Information application by Raju has revealed that in the year 2011, 4,896 men, 2,736 women and 1,454 children were given rabies vaccine at the General Hospital. This is a wee bit lower than the figures for the previous year 2010, that stood at 5,381 men, 3,071 women and 3,841 children.
As far as the Medical College was concerned, a total of 1,927 persons were given rabies vaccine up to a period of September 30 this year. This comprised 817 men, 707 women and 403 children. The corresponding figures for the previous year were 1,251 men, 963 women and 613 children.
Taking a look at a decade’s figure, the Medical College has given the rabies vaccine to 18,475 patients, with not too much variation in the annual figures.
However, of the 50,000 people who were administered the vaccine at the General
Hospital in the last ten years, there has been a huge increase in the number over the years. If in 2000 327 men were vaccinated, the number in 2011 jumped to 4,896. Same with women and children, the figures jumping from 212 in 2000 to 2,736 in 2011 and from 103 to 1,454 in the case of children.