Rabies Vaccine In Mukomuko Almost Exhausted

Mukomuko Health Office/Photo: Antara

MUKOMUKO - The Health Office (Dinkes) of Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province, said that currently the stock of anti-rabies vaccine (VAR) in this area is running low, with only four kiur remaining.

"There are still four kiur remaining anti-rabies vaccines, the rest of the anti-rabies vaccine is stored in the Health Service," said Head of Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Mukomuko District Health Office, Jajad Sudrajad in a statement at Mukomuko, Saturday, March 5.

The Health Office of Mukomuko Regency previously proposed increasing the stock of anti-rabies vaccine to the local provincial government, but the stock of anti-rabies vaccine at the provincial government is currently empty.

He said that because the stock of anti-rabies vaccines in this area was running low, the vaccines in this service were used selectively or only for residents who were bitten by animals that transmit rabies, which leads to rabies.

So far, he said, although there is no certainty that local residents are positive for rabies after being bitten by a rabies-transmitting animal, these residents are still given anti-rabies vaccine to prevent the victim from being bitten by this disease.

"For now, we are giving this anti-rabies vaccine selectively to victims of animal bites that transmit rabies, which actually leads to rabies positive," he said.

The local government in addition to buying 25 kiur anti-rabies vaccine sourced from the 2022 APBD, also proposes adding VAR from the local provincial government.

He said that there were two local residents who were bitten by rabid animals such as cats and dogs during January 2022.

Of the two residents who were bitten by a rabies-transmitting animal during January 2021, one was bitten by a cat and one was bitten by a dog.

However, one cat and one dog that had bitten residents in this area did not have rabies. All of them are pets.

A cat and a dog that bit a human have been vaccinated to prevent the animal from contracting rabies, said Jajad Sudrajad.