Once bitten, scarred for life

BHOPAL: Five-year-old Bhumika Saini shuts herself in her room, refuses to go out to play and shudders at the sound of a distant bark even within secured walls of her home. Bhumika survived a canine attack, but her tender mind is scarred for ever.
On Tuesday, a stray dog in the neighbourhood lunged at her and sank its fangs on her leg when she was on an after-dinner stroll with her mother.Bhumika fell on her face on lush green lanes of 74 Bungalows. Before her mother could intervene, she was bitten on the leg and back. "I have never felt so helpless. What would have happened if the dog had bit my daughter's face? I am still in shock," said her father, Amit Saini. Bhumika was admitted to JP hospital for treatment.
Saini said his daughter is still in trauma. "She fears to step out. It took a mammoth effort to convince her to go to hospital for taking her anti-rabies shots," he said.
Trauma is on two main accounts, the emotional and physical impact of the attack, said clinical psychologist Rahul Sharma. He said most victims need counselling. And this is often neglected by families. "If unchecked, animal phobia can affect the overall mental growth of a child," he said.
The toll on dog-bite victims can be devastating and debilitating. Mayank, 15, and a resident of Chuna Bhatti, was bitten by a dog when he was returning home after playing cricket. "We were passing by a garbage bin where a couple of dogs were fighting with each other. Suddenly, two canines pounced on me. If my friends weren't around, I could have died," he said.
Stray dogs run amok on the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) campus and residents live in perpetual fear. A professor residing in the area, said, his 9-year-old son cannot be left to play unmonitored. "For several months, a family elder had to escort him to the playground," he said.
Bhopal municipal corporation (BMC) was called in to control the menace, but this had little impact. Trying to tame the brutes, the professor's son took to feeding them. In difficulty lay an opportunity for friendship with man's best friend. "Since he has been giving food to dogs, we feel safe and let him out to play on his own," he said.
Vaccination need of hour: Joshi
Stray dog population has risen three-fold since 1990, as per national profile access guidelines against rabies. Considered a disease with cent percent mortality, only seven percent victims survive after contracting rabies, said assistant professor Dr Ankur Joshi. He will deliver a lecture for evidence-based discourse on dog bite and rabies at a seminar on Saturday.
"The need of the hour is to introduce rabies vaccination as an optional vaccine in national immunization schedule," said Dr Joshi. It would help protect us from dog bites as it decreases the need for immunoglobulin, a form passive immunization.