A lack of education
Thoroughly washing a wound with soap and water is an essential first response to a wound inflicted by a rabid animal. But, often people don’t have even this basic information.
Many people turn to faith healers for help. We have recorded examples of healers rubbing chilli peppers into wounds. Try to imagine the extra pain and trauma of rubbing chilli peppers into the deep wounds inflicted by a rabid animal. (Extra pain that does nothing to prevent or cure the disease.)
Most rabies victims are children. They want to play or bond with animals and are unaware of the risk of attack, or are less able to read the signs that show a dog is becoming agitated.
When there are no dog population controls, the dog welfare is often poor and children are at more risk of attack. Helping communities improve pet stewardship, improve the understanding of rabies risk, and improve the knowledge of how to treat victims of attacks by rabid animals, saves and improves lives - both for animals and people.
Even a tiny scratch can be fatal
Jozi's mother tearfully relayed the following story. At 9pm one evening in May, Jozi, an 11 year old boy was playing outside his house. When she heard him cry out she went to see what had happened. He said he had been bitten on the right thigh by a dog and so she took him to the local dispensary. Because he had no obvious wounds, the nurse said that he didn't need treatment.
Two weeks later he started to get headaches but the tablets that they bought from the dispensary didn't help. After 3 weeks he developed skin rashes and would ache whilst he was sleeping. He wasn't able to sleep properly and developed nervous symptoms, screaming out whenever somebody touched him.
On the fourth day of these symptoms she took him to hospital, where he was admitted but he died of rabies later that evening. The same dog had bitten two other children, as well as other dogs. Both children received post exposure prophylaxis. Had the health worker who saw Jozi had fully understood the nature of the disease, he would be alive today. So, we're working to make sure that health professionals around the world have the information and training they need.
