Noida: Dog-bite patients hit as govt hospitals run out of anti-rabies vaccines

  • | Monday | 30th November, 2020

NOIDA: As government hospitals in Gautam Budh Nagar have been facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines (ARV) for the past several days, dog-bite patients are forced to visit private clinics for the injection. RD Garg, a 57-year-old resident of Sai Apartment in Sector 71, was bitten by a stray dog on Friday. He claimed that he was denied treatment at the district hospital in Sector 30 and was told that the ARV was out of stock. “The doctors there said that despite repeated reminders, the vaccines are not been supplied to them from the state headquarters in Lucknow. Finally, I purchased the vaccines from the market and started the treatment,” Garg said.

NOIDA: As government hospitals in Gautam Budh Nagar have been facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines (ARV) for the past several days, dog-bite patients are forced to visit private clinics for the injection. RD Garg, a 57-year-old resident of Sai Apartment in Sector 71, was bitten by a stray dog on Friday. He claimed that he was denied treatment at the district hospital in Sector 30 and was told that the ARV was out of stock. “The doctors there said that despite repeated reminders, the vaccines are not been supplied to them from the state headquarters in Lucknow. Finally, I purchased the vaccines from the market and started the treatment,” Garg said.

Similarly, BN Mukherjee of Sector 25 said that he was denied the ARV dose by the district hospital, when he was bitten by a stray dog on Saturday. “The doctors said that they are not sure about the date of arrival of the vaccines in the hospital. I had no option other than to purchase them from a medical shop, and then visited a private clinic to get the injection,” he said. As many as six persons have suffered dog bites since Friday, health officials said, adding that nearly 250 dog-bite cases were reported in the district since March this year.

At the government hospitals, anti-rabies vaccines are provided to patients for free. However, due to the shortage, a dog-bite victim in the district has no option other than to have a mandatory course of several vials of the vaccine costing Rs 300 per vial in a private hospital or clinic. When contacted, Dr Renu Agarwal, chief medical superintendent of the district hospital, admitted that the hospital is running out of ARV stock for the past 15 days. “We’ve intimated the matter to the higher authorities and they have assured us to supply the vaccines soon,” she said.

GB Nagar district chief medical officer Dr Deepak Ohri also said he had asked the officials concerned to look into the matter. “It is a matter of concern for us as since March nearly 250 dog-bite cases were reported in the district. We have ordered for 1,000 vaccines last week. I hope that very soon the stock will be received at different hospitals and health centres,” he said.


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