BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The city’s Animal Bite Treatment Center (ABTC) under the City Health Services Office (CHSO) reported having treated some one thousand animal bites in the city during the first two months of the year.
Nurse Agnes Johanna Abad, ABTC manager, said that the significant number of individuals who sought treatment for their animal bites is a clear indication of the public’s awareness on the availability of treatment services right in the city’s health facility.
In 2024, the ABTC recorded some 8,156 animal bites treatments they did in the center before dropping to only 7,099 bites last year.
However, she claimed there had been no human rabies cases reported through the years except for the one animal rabies case in the city way back in 2021.
The ABTC manager advised individuals who are bitten by their pets or stray dogs and cats to immediately seek the necessary treatment from the center for them to ascertain what type of bite did they sustain and the treatment that will be provided to avoid their situation from worsening.
According to her, there are three categories of bites from animals – category one involves contact with an animal without breaking the skin and usually does not require vaccination; category two includes minor open wounds without heavy bleeding and requires a primary anti-rabies vaccine while category three is considered the most severe as it involves bites on sensitive areas such as the head, face, or neck, heavy bleeding or cases where the biting animal cannot be observed.
She pointed out that the third category requires both anti-rabies vaccination and rabies immunoglobulin administered on the wound after skin testing.
Abad reported that most of the reported bite cases are owners of dogs or cats who are either bitten or scratched by their pets and that there are a few number of individuals who are bitten by stray animals primarily because stray animals are usually afraid of humans.
She said that the city has three existing animal bite centers situated at the CHSO, the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) and the Saint Louis University Sacred Heart Hospital to cater to the treatment of the animal bites inflicted on individuals. (Baguio PIO)
