More and more reports of suspicion rabies in Dutch people
The number of reports of Dutch travelers who think they have sustained rabies, or rabies. The Dutch Alarm Center Eurocross reports this.
This year, more than five hundred reports have been received so far with the suspicion of the deadly infectious disease. That is an increase of 21 percent compared to a year earlier. The number of reports also rose in the two previous years.
Most reports come from Indonesia, Thailand and “slightly less obvious” Turkey this year, according to the emergency center. In the latter country, the number of reports has increased by 29 percent compared to a year earlier. In Turkey, an immunoglobulin is often given to an unaccinated person with a bleeding bite to prevent contamination, reports Floriana Luppino, doctor at Eurocross. Then people have to go back to the Netherlands “in a hurry”.
“The recent increase in reports shows that popular holiday destinations are not without danger,” said Angela Looyé of Eurocross. Yet many people who go to Turkey, for example, do not vaccinate, “simply because they don’t know the risk or underestimate”.
People rise rabies mainly through dog bites, but also cats, bats and monkeys can have the virus and transfer it via bite, crab or lick, according to Eurocross. Rabies is found in more than 150 countries, including in parts of Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and South and Central America. Around 60,000 people die from the disease every year.