Jakarta, Gatra.com – Rabies is still a scary disease in the world of infectious diseases. It is an old disease in human history that still exists today. The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) states that the main cause of the spread of the rabies virus is dogs, accounting for 95%.
The time frame for transmission from a suspected rabid animal to humans varies. Some may show symptoms of being infected a few weeks after being bitten, while others may be longer. DR Dr. Novie Homenta Rampengan SpA(K), a member of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Coordination Unit of IDAI, said he once received a report of a human who only showed rabies symptoms after two years of being bitten by a dog.
“There is a report that the longest rabies infection can be transmitted up to two years after the bite. So if the bite is on the leg, the person may not be aware of it. The leg is far from the brain. It takes time for the virus to spread through the blood vessels and nerves, so the symptoms only appear two years later,” Novie said at a virtual press conference held by IDAI on Saturday (June 17).
Actually, there are several ways to minimize or provide first aid so that rabies symptoms in humans do not worsen. Imran Pambudi, the Director of Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases at Kemenkes, said that the first aid is that the patient must be immediately taken to the nearest health facility.
“So when asked what the first thing to do is, it is as soon as possible, after being bitten, they must go to the health facility to have the wound rinsed,” Imran said at a virtual press conference related to the “Update on Rabies Situation in Indonesia” early in June.
Furthermore, Imran explained that the severity of a person’s disease with rabies can be measured by the location of the bite. If it is closer to the nerves, then the condition is automatically much worse because the virus will spread faster to the nerve center.
Imran stated that most cases of death caused by rabies are due to the patient’s delay in being taken to a health facility. He said that many patients consider the symptoms they feel to be trivial.
“They feel that this is just a small bite. There is no bleeding. Then they say, the dog is also my neighbor’s dog. It often plays with me, so they come to the health facility more than one month after being bitten,” Imran added.
Overall, the rabies situation in Indonesia is feared to increase again after the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of rabies cases had declined in 2020-2021 because during the pandemic, people tend to stay at home and reduce their outdoor activities. This caused the contact between humans and animals suspected of spreading rabies to decrease.
However, after the pandemic, the number of cases is feared to increase again. In 2022, the number of rabies cases increased rapidly, even becoming the highest in the last three years. Kemenkes recorded 104,229 cases of rabies bites and 102 deaths last year, with only 74,888 receiving rabies vaccines.
Meanwhile, as of April 2023, Kemenkes recorded 31,113 cases of rabies bites and 11 deaths this year, with only 23,211 people receiving rabies vaccines. Bali is still the province with the highest number of cases so far, reaching 14,827, followed by East Nusa Tenggara (3,437) and South Sulawesi (2,338).
On the other hand, there are only eight provinces that are rabies-free, namely the Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, Yogyakarta Special Region, East Java, Papua, and West Papua.
