Spotlight on Rabies

World Rabies Day, which is commemorated worldwide on 28 September, highlights the impact of human and animal rabies. The mission of World Rabies Day is to educate people about human and animal rabies, primarily the impact, prevention and control of the disease.

Rabies is a virus infection to which all mammals, including man, are susceptible. It causes an acute and almost invariably fatal infection of the brain. Although preventable, rabies results in 55 000 people dying worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organisation and tragically, most of those who succumbed to the disease were bitten by rabid dogs.

In South Africa, about 10 laboratories confirmed human cases per year succumb to human rabies, which is present in all provinces in the country.

Children are the most vulnerable to attacks by infected dogs because they play with them and can be licked or bitten by them.

The early symptoms of rabies may include numbness around the site of the bite, fever, headache and general malaise, later symptoms may include muscle spasms and hydrophobia.

Department of Health's Head of Communicable Disease, Dr Frew Benson and Jackie Weyers from National Institute for Communicable Diseases will be among the key speakers during the event to be held at the Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.