Central Visayas logs 19 suspected rabies deaths

[Mike J]

16 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

We all know that virtually no one inoculates their "pets." That costs money, much more than the cost of the rice they feed them all.

Interesting, here in Moalboal the rabies vaccine for dogs is free from the barangay, has been for years.  Recently a local non-profit has garnered enough support for local business that free spay and neuter clinics are held on about a monthly basis.  Here is a post from their June 30 event;

<snip>Yesterday we successfully fixed 27 dogs: 6 full fee dogs, 8 stray dogs and 13 low income families dogs.
With the support of Sir Eloy from Moalboal Agriculture Office we administered FREE anti rabies vaccines to 35 dogs and 2 cats 💪, Thank you Sir Eloy and MAO for your continued support.<end snip>

[graham59]

They run a similar (free) scheme in our locality.

Not sure when they're going to start on some of the humans hereabouts. 

[RBM]

18 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

That is a topic that worries me greatly. Everyone around our home has dogs and cats and I saw two hug rats running on the roof of our garden house two days ago. We all know that virtually no one inoculates their "pets." That costs money, much more than the cost of the rice they feed them all. We keep our mutts up to date on all meds, including worming and flea and tick and annual rabies vacs. So we just worry about all the others in the neighbourhood. That is yet another issue that I believe the "government" might address here? 

Yes I also concerned here as do a lot of hiking. Often wondered what one would do if bitten apart from the usual cleaning and treating with betadine. For sure if going to barangay clinic one would be met with sorry sir out of stock, heard hospitals charge a fortune for shots....

[Tommy T.]

28 minutes ago, RBM said:

Yes I also concerned here as do a lot of hiking. Often wondered what one would do if bitten apart from the usual cleaning and treating with betadine. For sure if going to barangay clinic one would be met with sorry sir out of stock, heard hospitals charge a fortune for shots....

L was bit by a stray cat a few years ago. She had no choice but to go to the hospital and get the series of shots. I don't remember what she paid, but they weren't cheap or free.

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

Interesting, here in Moalboal the rabies vaccine for dogs is free from the barangay, has been for years.  Recently a local non-profit has garnered enough support for local business that free spay and neuter clinics are held on about a monthly basis.  Here is a post from their June 30 event;

<snip>Yesterday we successfully fixed 27 dogs: 6 full fee dogs, 8 stray dogs and 13 low income families dogs.
With the support of Sir Eloy from Moalboal Agriculture Office we administered FREE anti rabies vaccines to 35 dogs and 2 cats 💪, Thank you Sir Eloy and MAO for your continued support.<end snip>

We have a similar scheme in Iloilo but it's  hopelessly inadequate and when I looked at their Facebook page it says it's not able to take any bookings at present - I forget the actual number but last year in total it was very few. 

 

[Mike J]

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

We have a similar scheme in Iloilo but it's  hopelessly inadequate and when I looked at their Facebook page it says it's not able to take any bookings at present - I forget the actual number but last year in total it was very few. 

 

That is really unfortunate.  The program here is a huge success.  It was started by a group of five ladies, all of who love animals.  They have spay/neutered hundreds of dogs since they started.  And it is making a real difference.  They are also spay/neuter many stray dogs.  When they heal up they are released where they had been found unless someone adopts them.

[hk blues]

Update - my wife went for her 3rd dose today.  Sorry M'am, out of stock!  Grrrrrr! But suggested she go to one of 3 pharmacies across the road and pay double the price - hmmm.

Sometimes I really do shake my head at this country. 

[Mike J]

15 hours ago, hk blues said:

Update - my wife went for her 3rd dose today.  Sorry M'am, out of stock!  Grrrrrr! But suggested she go to one of 3 pharmacies across the road and pay double the price - hmmm.

Sometimes I really do shake my head at this country. 

I was bitten by a puppy that got into our yard about 6-8 months ago.  Went to the government clinic, was told only available on Tuesday and Thursday and you needed to come early.  Went the following week, arrived about 7:00, sorry sir "only 10 shots available, already in line."  Turned out some of those people actually slept overnight in line.  The government clinic only had the budget to treat about 40 bites victims per month.  

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, Mike J said:

I was bitten by a puppy that got into our yard about 6-8 months ago.  Went to the government clinic, was told only available on Tuesday and Thursday and you needed to come early.  Went the following week, arrived about 7:00, sorry sir "only 10 shots available, already in line."  Turned out some of those people actually slept overnight in line.  The government clinic only had the budget to treat about 40 bites victims per month.  

I can kind of understand that but my wife was able to get the first 2 doses no problem, and was there late morning both times i.e. after 10am so I can't really understand why they ran out yesterday.  Anyway, she's gone again today at 7:30am so we'll see.

I suspect we'll end up having to pay the double cost to the pharmacy.

[MikeyD]

On 8/7/2024 at 9:03 AM, Tommy T. said:

L was bit by a stray cat a few years ago. She had no choice but to go to the hospital and get the series of shots. I don't remember what she paid, but they weren't cheap or free.

My wife was bitten by a stray cat a few weeks ago and her finger started to swell and became painful the next morning, we went to a local ER in Consolacion but they had several more higher priority patients, so we wound up going down to Cebu Doctor's Hospital (CDUH) in Cebu City.  The entire cost of treatment including the series of rabies shots was 27,323.61 PHP.  We presented our private health insurance ID card (which is supposed to cover ER visits with no cash outlay) to the ER staff but of course said they only accept cash payments.  I forgot to ask the cashier when we actually paid the first night.  I asked the insurance agent and they said that the insurance coverage should have been accepted and next time we should just insist that they call the insurance company for authorization.  I still have my doubts that would have worked.  I just submitted the claim form this week, I have no idea if we will get reimbursed by the insurance company or when.  The good news is that the treatment was successful in resolving the swelling and pain and the CDUH staff was professional and competent.