Introduction
Rabies is a viral disease among human beings, and its mode of transmission is through an infected animal’s saliva. Research shows that human beings contract this disease through dog bites and scratches. Dogs are significant carriers of this virus. Human beings are infected as a result of their daily interaction with dogs. Since the rabies virus is active in the cannibal’s saliva, through bites, the virus is transferred from an animal to a human. After a period of three months from the date of biting, an individual may feel pain, fever and discomfort as symptoms of this disease (Bleck, & Rupprecht 2005). When the virus enters the body, it affects the body’s central nervous system, paralyzing its mechanism, which may result in cardiac arrests. Other signs that may come with this disease may involve inflammation of the backbone and the brain. Some patients may show excitement behavior, which may be followed by death after a few days. This paper endeavors to analyze rabies disease in South Africa.
Risk Analysis
According to the World Health Organization, Rabies occurs in 150 countries and territories around the world, including South Africa. Rabies is a disease that is transmitted from animals to human beings, and In South Africa, rabies infects wild and domestic animals. According to Knobel, Cleveland, Coleman, Fevre, Meltzer, & Miranda 2005), Rabies is essentially transmitted by dogs. A significant number of human deaths are caused by dog bites. Bats have also been suspected to contribute to the transmission of this virus. However, no deaths indications have been posted. This suggests that dogs remain the primary hosts of rabies. In South Africa, the risk of rabies falls on people living in the rural areas. These regions are commonly known to have no sufficient access to immunization. It suggests that when human beings are bitten, they lack the necessary treatment to save their lives. Lack of a human vaccine exposes many people to the danger of losing lives.
Therefore, South Africans, who live in the rural, are the affected people because they cannot access the vaccine. People living in poverty cannot meet treatment costs of rabies in South Africa. This is because these costs are way beyond what the rural population can afford. Their daily incomes cannot meet their medical treatment, which shows that the victims may end up dying as a result of this disease. In South Africa, poor families do not consider healthcare as a priority and only comes second after food. A family can sacrifice the health of its members so as to bring a meal on the table. They prefer having food for the whole family to allowing them starve at the expense of healthcare. The above information indicates that poverty has contributed to the death toll among rabies patients in South Africa.
According to Knobel et al (2005), KwaZulu Natal has been known to be significantly affected by rabies. This is because rabid dogs are on the rise, and no one knows the number of people such dogs come in to contact. Since they are stray dogs, Knobel et al (2005) indicates that they are prime contributors to the rise of rabies deaths in the area. Rabies came on spotlight in South Africa when Graeme Anderson, a farmer, was bitten by a stray dog. This farmer was diagnosed of rabies, and, unfortunately, died. According to records, a high number of people have lost their lives as a result of this virus. This is quite alarming because many locals may be incubating the virus, and soon the country may experience a high number of deaths from this predicament. Children are at a risk because they enjoy playing with dogs as pets, and they even play with straying ones, which may be carriers of the deadly virus. Such dogs may bite them, and when they are infected, transmission takes place, which may lead to the death of such children. Studies have indicated that the rabies virus only shows symptoms when it has taken root in the body of the patient. That is why people are advised to seek treatment immediately after a dog bite. Rural areas lack medical access, with a few opting for traditional remedies (Luyckx, Steenkamp, Rubel, Stewart, 2004); hence those affected succumb to death. Some people in South Africa become victims of rabies because of their occupation and residence. For example, veterinary officers in a vaccination exercise may be bitten by a dog. Such a dog may not have received vaccination, which may result to the infection of the officer with rabies. This indicates that protection should be a priority for the medical officers. Protective equipment should be made available so as to create a safe working environment for workers.
Prevention and Control Measures undertaken
Despite numerous setbacks, South Africa aims at reducing the mortality rate. The key elements to the revised strategy include: revamping surveillance through strengthening evaluation and monitoring process, increasing the control of rabies virus, targeting intervention programs to populations at risk, reforming approaches to program management and planning, as well as scaling up the distribution and use of pre and post exposure programs (Grandien 1977). For effective control of rabies, the government advocates for rapid treatment following early diagnosis. According to Rupprecht, Hanlon, and Hemachudha (2002), vaccination is necessary to protect the lives of South Africans. The committee on agriculture and environment indicated that the vaccination of stray dogs was not effective, because of a low allocation of funds. Therefore more funds have been requested to the committee so as to advance vaccination. When an infected dog bites the hunted animal and meat, is taken home, members of the family may suffer from rabies. Such a family may incur a vital loss of their loved ones. Secondly, the hunter may have wounds, which may have a close contact with the animal’s blood. The virus may enter an individual’s body through the wound. Rupprecht, et al (2002) indicates that vaccination is essential in controlling rabies in South Africa. The central government should provide sufficient funds, which will facilitate vaccination of dogs across the country. This shows that preventing rabies in domestic animals contributes positively to the control of rabies among human beings (Warrell, D. &, Warrell, M.1988). Hunting dogs should be vaccinated so as to avoid transmission of the virus to human beings.
Successes and failures of rabies in South Africa
After the vaccination of animals, human beings were immunized. This was useful for people who traveled from one place to another in the country. Safe human vaccines were availed to the people so as to enable their bodies become immune towards rabies infections. This reduced the rate of deaths in the country. People engaged in high risk occupations, such as laboratory technologists and technicians, received immunization so as to protect themselves from infection (Cleveland, Kaare, Tiringa, Mlengeya,& Barrat 2003). However, on the hand children, who have been shown to be playful with bats and dogs, got bites and scratches from dogs and failed to report to their parents and guardians. Families are exposed to poverty, and as a result, making their life a challenge. This extra vaccine and immunization was not accessible to locals, to assist them in protecting lives. In South Africa, records indicate that people did not access the human vaccine in the past, which led to their deaths.
Therefore, the accessibility of this vaccine would have provided immediate remedy to patients. This was a failure because the availability of treatment facilitates the eradication of rabies. Therefore, immunization can be useful in such situations so as to prevent the spread of rabies in the country. Medical officers should initiate community projects to enhance public awareness on immunization. Farmers should bring their animals for vaccination in the available vaccine centers. Information on the significance of immunization will educate locals to embrace prevention of rabies in the area. Agricultural officers should be dispatched in the rural areas so as to offer knowledge to the peephole. Extra vaccination and immunization facilities should be opened and equipped so as to deal with this disease amicably. Poor families cannot afford the cost of treatment. Cleaveland et al (2003) indicates that such individuals may meet their deaths if preventive measures are not taken. Therefore, the government should subsidize the cost of treatment so as to make it affordable for the poor individuals. Governmental and nongovernmental organizations should hold hands through donations and training so as to manage rabies in South Africa. It is the duty of the government to protect the health of her people. Human life should be treated sacred. Loss of life affects the growth of the country’s economy since the people with expertise die.
Disease Epidemiology
Rabies is available in South Africa and its neighboring counties. However, it has not been possible to put a figure on the number of human beings and animals infected with this virus. It has been shown that lack of pre-exposure to the deadly virus could lead to death when one finally gets it (Von Teichman, Thomson, Meredith, Nel 1995). Rabies is a preventive disease, and it is seen as a health failure when people die of this disease. For an efficient control process, the animal control agency has advised people to report cases of stray animals because they are not vaccinated. When unvaccinated animals bite locals, they transmit rabies virus, a situation that stimulated the agency to commence a stray animal isolation program. Out of this appeal, the people of South Africa have reported cases of stray animals in the vicinity.
The control agencies respond by removing them. Families in South Africa embrace pet keeping in their homes. This shows that vaccination will enable them to protect their pets from rabies infection (Cleaveland et al, 2003). In addition, pets can be bitten by wild and stray animals and be infected with rabies. Therefore, vaccination will protect the pets from infection when bitten by such animals. Citizens are advised to avoid contact with animals with strange behavior. This is because such animals may be carrying the rabies virus that can easily be transmitted to humans. Rabies has no remedy immediately the symptoms are seen, but vaccination can prevent infection of rabies and save a life. Majority of the infections occurs among the remote populations and the urban poor. In order to apply proper intervention, these populations should be identified. This will include the government understanding the epidemiology of the disease among these people. Their behavioral risk factors, in relation to rabies, should be identified to combat the disease. The success of this intervention will require the involvement of experts, mainly social anthropologists, and social scientists.
However, without an effective human vaccine and other control measures, rabies disease will continue continued to kill people in South Africa. KwaZulu Natal has been the most affected area because domestic dogs are prevalent in the region. Regions like Limpopo province have been affected as a result of wild animals such as black backed jackals (WHO 1988). Therefore, a central dog vaccination point in villages should be embraced so as to handle this dreadful disease. The following graph shows rabies incidents ion South Africa from 1954 to 1990.
Community level programs should be encouraged to enhance awareness and educate members on the dangers of dog bites. Such programs enable locals to understand the significance of attending exposure clinics. People should be advised that, after the bite, the wound should be clean, and covered as one proceeds to get treatment. Such awareness will enable locals to understand the hazards of rabies. Secondly, registers in clinics should be documented so as to facilitate follow-up programs to patients, who do not come back to complete their doses. This is because some patients after they had been bitten, rush to hospital, but do not go back to finish the doses. Such people die because they did not receive total treatment, because lack of treatment or partial treatment has been indicated as a hindrance to containing rabies in South Africa. Loss of life affects the growth of the country’s economy since the people with expertise die.
Therefore, through such documentation, the medical personnel will be able to monitor patients who come back to complete their treatment. Those who do not come back may be followed up in their homes so as to receive medication, and enhance rabies control in South Africa. Patients, who do not return for their scheduled doses should be followed so as to control rabies (Mallewa, Fooks, Banda, Chikungwa, Mankhambo, & Molyneux 2007). It has been shown that rabies still kills people in South Africa even with an effective vaccine and sufficient control measures. The paper suggests that pre-exposure programs are expensive for developing countries. Mallewa et al (2007) indicates that people in these countries may not afford because treatment of rabies is expensive and makes them fail to receive treatment. Therefore, the government should offer such services so as to protect her citizens. Donors and wealthy nations should come in and support developing counties so as to deal with this disease. Through training and other forms of support, developed countries can offer assistance in regard to rabies. Therefore, international relations can contribute to combating the rabies menace in South Africa.
Future Recommendations
Rabies is a cross-border disease, which can reemerge in areas, which were originally under control. This calls clinicians to submit rabies diagnosis on regular so as to monitor the progress of control. The increasing number of deaths in South Africa has highlighted the significance of educating people of the disease. Rabies affects the brain of an individual making him behave in a strange manner. People need to be aware on how to be devise ways of getting protected against the disease to avoid misconceptions in the public arena (Rupprecht et al, 2002). One of the misconceptions indicates that people do not believe that saliva can transmit the virus. This has made people allow dogs to lick their wounds, leading to infections. Rupprecht et al (2002) indicates that public awareness has not achieved in educating people on the spread of rabies. Another misconception shows that people believe that an infected animal should be aggressive. It is wrong because some animals may be passive but dangerous. This shows that people should be cautious when an animal becomes aggressive. This indicates that one should be cautious for any change of behavior in an animal. Changes are dynamic, and aggression should not be attributed to rabies alone. People who are bitten and infected should be encouraged to embrace hygiene, and wash the wound with soap and clean water before going to hospital for treatment (Luyckx et al 2004). People should be advised to keep off animals that behave strangely. Prevention is better than cure, and so as to combat the diseases effectively, it will be most appropriate to employ preventive measures.
The community should also be empowered in prevention measures, as well as have effective methods, put in place in order to control and prevent the virus (Coleman, Fevre, & Cleaveland 2004). Other strategies include strengthening the community participation in rabies control, and prevention measures. Having well laid rabies surveillance networks, will help in combating the disease. Epidemic control and preparedness are also imperative in the South Africa strategy so as to control rabies infections. The government also aims at delegating rabies control and prevention programs to the local organizations, where locals can access treatment and vaccination.
Therefore, the government should subsidize the cost of treatment so as to make it affordable for the poor individuals. Governmental and nongovernmental organizations should hold hands through donations and training so as to manage rabies in South Africa.
Conclusion
In conclusion, records indicate that suspect rabies occurred in South Africa in the eighteen century. It was discovered in dogs and human beings, and since then it has been challenging to control the disease in rural and less urban towns such as KwaZulu Natal. This is because such areas experience roaming of dogs and political unrest which hinder anti rabies campaigns in South Africa. Those who undergo exposure programs should limit the pried between exposure and treatment. Treatment should not be delayed since it may result to the manifestation of rabies symptoms, and at such a stage treatment can not effective. This indicates that the patient may lose life. People living in the rural are affected because they cannot access the vaccine. Community programs should be encouraged to enhance awareness and educate members on the dangers of dog bites. Through such programs, locals can manage to understand the significance of attending pre exposure clinics.
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