Rabies has caused 56 human deaths across 29 provinces and cities in Vietnam from January to July this year, marking a 45-percent year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Health.

The provinces which reported a high number of rabies outbreaks and deaths include Dak Lak and Gia Lai in the Central Highlands; Binh Thuan and Nghe An along the central coast; and Ben Tre, Long An, and Tay Ninh in the southern part of the country.

Rabies has remained among the leading causes of human deaths over the past years, just after such infectious diseases as measles and COVID-19, the health ministry said at a recent conference on tightening rabies control and prevention.

Associate Prof. Dr. Tran Nhu Duong, deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, under the health ministry, affirmed that rabies is a deadly viral zoonotic disease that cannot be cured but can be prevented by vaccination.

The main cause of human deaths due to rabies is the failure to get vaccinated immediately after being bitten, scratched, or having an open wound licked by a cat or dog, the health ministry said.

Epidemiological investigation results indicated that most of the rabies cases did not get vaccination as they thought that their pet dogs were not rabid, while several others died after seeking treatment for rabies from traditional practitioners instead of receiving a vaccination.

Moreover, some children did not tell their parents about their dog bites, missing out on preventive treatment and succumbing to rabies as a result.

Kids should be told that they have to let their parents know about their dog bites, regardless of the level of wound severity, Dr. Duong stressed.

He also proposed that health authorities penalize traditional practitioners for claiming that they could cure rabies.

Speaking at the event, the Department of Animal Health said that the current rabies vaccination coverage in dogs is 58 percent, noting that the figure might be inaccurate as the exact number of dogs in Vietnam is unknown.

According to Phan Quang Minh, deputy chief of the Department of Animal Health, the rabies vaccination coverage in dogs in many provinces remains below 30 percent, posing a challenge for rabies control and prevention efforts.

The health ministry plans to recommend sanctions for provinces and cities nationwide to address dog and cat owners who fail to vaccinate their pets against rabies or allow them to roam freely.

Dogs bite around 500,000 people in Vietnam each year, with preventive treatment costs totaling approximately VND2 trillion (US$79.5 million), according to the health ministry.

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