Outbreaks of rabies in domestic animals such as dogs and cats predominantly occur in the summer months, and recently there has been an increase in the number of people being bitten or scratched by these animals.

According to the Da Nang Preventive Medicine Centre, a total of 4,008 people were vaccinated against rabies after being bitten by dogs and cats in the whole of last year.  By the end of February this year, 665 vaccinations had already been reported, an increase of 46 cases compared with the same period last year.  In particular, a higher proportion of the human rabies cases have been reported in children rather than adults.

Currently, many vaccine doses are in stock at the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre, ready to meet the expected demand during the summer.  Preventive medicine teams in the local districts of Ngu Hanh Son, Lien Chieu, Cam Le and Hoa Vang also offer vaccinations against rabies.

The Dean of the centre’s Department of Infectious Disease Control, Vaccines and Biologics, Dr Nguyen Tam Lam, said that no fatal cases of rabies have been reported over the past 10 years.  Local people, however, should be wary of contact with dogs and cats to prevent catching the disease.