Seven healthcare workers suspended in Pakistan after five rabies-related deaths
In Pakistan’s Sindh province, four doctors, a medicine dispenser, a female health worker from the women’s health service and a midwife were suspended after five rabies-related deaths over three weeks. Requests for explanations were also sent to seven managers and responsible employees of medical institutions.
As Dawn reports, all five people who died, including children, had visited anti-rabies care units at medical facilities. Disciplinary measures were taken on the orders of Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah after shortcomings were identified in the management of cases following dog bites. According to the official, 38 rabies-related deaths had been recorded in the province by August this year.
Review of cases
Those who died included 48-year-old Shahnawaz from Shahdadpur, 55-year-old Shakeel Ahmed from Tando Allahyar, five-year-old Farman from Kotri, six-year-old Rayan Hussain from Hyderabad and 35-year-old Begum from Tando Mohammad Khan. Officials reviewed the medical records of each of them to determine the causes of death and possible gaps in anti-rabies care.
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According to the source, investigations found cases in which patients were given rabies vaccine but not rabies immunoglobulin, or wounds did not receive proper attention. According to a doctor, in Rayan Hussain’s case, a head wound sustained during a dog attack was sutured at a hospital in violation of protocol. After the boy was transferred to Liaquat University Hospital, the wound was not reassessed as a dog-bite injury.
Monitoring treatment
There are 278 anti-rabies care units operating in Sindh, which authorities concluded comply with World Health Organization protocols. These include 112 referral centers where medical staff are on duty around the clock and administer rabies immunoglobulin.
Authorities instructed that the digital monitoring dashboard, which records dog-bite cases, treatment schedules and vaccine stocks, be updated regularly. Over the past eight months, about 45,000 patients in Sindh received care after dog bites; they were administered 138,000 doses of rabies vaccine and 5,000 doses of immunoglobulin. According to officials, the province’s treatment capacity increased by nearly 30% compared with the same period of the previous year.
