THE INCREASE OF RABIES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15332, 15 June 1910, Page 2

THE INCREASE OF RABIES.

In view of the amount of canine rabies abroad, the attention of the public is called to tho following extracts from the eighth annual report of the Pasteur Institute of India, written by Captain R. M. Carter, 1.M.5., officiating director: — It would greatly facilitate the work of the Institute if patients would always bring up a portion of the brain of the animal w.hen they come to Kasauli for treatment. By far the greater majority of.patients bring nothing with them but the history of their cases. Assistant surgeons, hospital assistants, European and Indian civil practitioners in tho smaller stations should do their utmost to help us by forwarding suspected rabic brain tissue both in Zenker's fluid and in sterile glycerine by post. This will prevent delay end difficulty in diagnosis, and enable the staff to produce statistical tables on rabies and anti-rabic work in. India more complete than is at present possible. A portion of brain, the size of a walnut, should be placed in a bottle of sterile glycerine, corked and sealed. Half the brain should be placed in a second bottle containing Zenker's fluid, if the resources of a hospital be available in the station. Failing this, strong wood or country spirit should be used as a preservative. Both bottles should be legibly labelled, and round each a letter containing completo information about the case should be tied. Both bottles should be packed so as not to break on the journey, and then forwarded to the Institute immediately. Further, a letter or telegram to the director, reporting their despatch, should be posted or wired at once. If this be done, an earl/ microscopical diagnosis is more likelj' to be arrived at. Experimental proaf, that is the biological test in an anuu»l, may take up to three months, but If the virus has been destroyed by bad packing, heat, etc., a negative result is valueless.

It is inadvisable for any person to run the slightest risk of hydrophobia when a means of preventing it awaits him at the rail-head of Kalka. The director telegraphs his opinion to all persons requiring it, on receipt of either a letter or telegram. The wisest procedure is to cauterise the wound immediately, to secure the animal if possible, and keep it under observation segregated for ten days. If at the end of the tenth day after inflicting the bite, the animal is alive and well, it is not suffering from hydrophobia. If, however, the animal shows any symptoms of rabies the patient should seek tieatment at Kasauli immediately, and bring with him portions of the brain in bottles, as above mentioned. Ho should bo accompanied by all persons bitten or licked by the infected* animal. He should further try to gather as much information as possible from his friends or the local authorities about the animal so as to discover whether other animals or persons have been infected. All such animals should be segregated for six months, and all infected persons should be advised to seek Pasteur treatment at once. If, as often happens, the animal inflicting the bite escapes and cannot be traced, by the person bitten, the patient

should in such case come up tor antirabic inoculation at once, leaving instructions with the local authorities tc gather.all information available about the animal and forward it to the director at the earliest date possible. If it is discovered alive ten days after inflicting the bite, the treatment will be stopped on receipt of the news. Many Indian gentlemen, whose social rank and means preclude them from living in the lines provided only for indigent persons, suffer the greatest inconvenience when they come to Kasauli for anti-rabic treatment. As there .s no accommodation available for In-» dian gentlemen and their families in any. building connected with the Pasteur Institute of India, and but little suitable in the Bazaar, I think it necessary that the attention of all who may be interested in the Institute should be directed to this point. The Princes of India and Indian gentlemen of high rank and wealth should be interested in the solution of this unhappy state of affairs. What is wanted is a really comfortable house .olose to the Institute, fitted with all the requirements suitable for Indian gentlemen of high social standing and their families, so that they could undergo their treatment with the least discomfort. All that is required is that this should be brought to the notice of the various Indian rulers and wealthy members of the upper classes, when the necessary funds, I am convinced, will be readily subscribed. The object is an excellent one, and would benefit solely those sections of the community for which it is intended. Many Indian gentlemen in past years have urged the necessity for such a building, but, until a start is made in a businesslike way with a subscription list, no result will occur. Some Rs. 15 000—20,000 would probably prove sufficient; and the Hardwick Estate would be a suitable site for such a building, as it is near the Institute. There is no time like the present for placing the scheme on a sound working,bask