Some hospitals offer free anti-rabies shots

Some hospitals in the country offer free anti-rabies shots, while PhilHealth has an animal bite treatment package that patients may also avail of.

In Vonne Aquino’s Sunday report on “24 Oras Weekend,” a two-year-old girl and a senior citizen were among the patients getting the free anti-rabies vaccine in San Lazaro Hospital in Santa Cruz, Manila.

Patients must bring an ID to get the free vaccination in the hospital.

The San Lazaro Hospital noted that it has about 100,000 anti-rabies vaccines to last for the entire year.

However, should the anti-rabies vaccines run out, they may request more from the Department of Health.

Free anti-rabies vaccines are also available at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa and the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center in Marikina.

The public may also inquire with the local government units for free anti-rabies vaccines.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth offers an animal bite treatment package for P5,850, which includes anti-rabies vaccine, anti-tetanus vaccine, and local wound care.

As of May 21, the San Lorenzo Hospital logged 13 casualties from different provinces due to rabies.

Death, however, can be avoided if the patient promptly gets his anti-rabies vaccine and completes the three doses so that an antibody can be produced to fight the virus.

The animal that bit or scratched the patient should also be observed. If the animal dies within two weeks, there is a high chance that it has rabies.

Among the symptoms of having rabies are fever, headache, and, if it reaches the brain, hydrophobia, or an apparent fear of water or drinking.

Rabies can take weeks or months to show. In the recent case of a victim in Cabuyao, Laguna, he died nine months after he was bitten, and without having completed his shots.

The speed of rabies transmission also depends on where the patient was bitten or scratched.

Meanwhile, the families of the deceased patients were also advised to get vaccinated and to cremate the body, since the virus could when droplets from the body are inhaled. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/BM, GMA Integrated News