No vaccine available for rat bite victims in Srinagar hospitals

Srinagar, Mar 17: A man from Srinagar’s old city was bitten by a rat on Friday morning. Much agony to the family, no vaccine for rat bites was available neither at SKIMS Soura nor at SMHS Hospital.
The victim identified as Muhammad Maqbool Ganai, a resident of Noorbagh Guzarbal was taken to SKIMS Soura by his family for treatment shortly after his right finger was bitten by a rodent at his home.
Jan Muhammad, the son of the victim, told the news agency Kashmir News Trust that doctors at SKIMS asked him to take his father to SMHS Hospital as no vaccine for a rat bite is available in the hospital.
“Though rats don’t cause rabies, and my father didn’t need it, to my surprise, even anti-rabies vaccines are not available at SKIMS,” he said, adding that the same scenario prevails at SMHS hospital where no vaccine is available for rat bite victims.
He said his father was given antibiotic tablets and was asked to get a vaccine each day from the open market for a whole month. “Both the hospitals wasted our time and we were forced to look for private treatment,” he said.
When contacted a medico said that a rat bite victim needs a ‘tetanus toxoid’ vaccine on an urgent basis but unfortunately that is not available in the government hospitals.