Mumbai gets 1st lab to detect rabies

Last month Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing in Parel became the first laboratory in Mumbai to conduct confirmatory tests to detect the rabies virus in the human body

Last month Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing in Parel became the first laboratory in Mumbai to conduct confirmatory tests to detect the rabies virus in the human body.

The institute successfully performed a series of tests to detect the rabies virus in two patients. When a person suffers from a dog or cat bite, the rabies virus usually present in the saliva of the animal gets into the human body.

"The virus starts travelling inside the body and if it reaches the brain the person can slip into a coma," explained Dr Abhay Chaudhary, Director, Haffkine Institute.

According to experts, there are very few cases documented across the globe where a patient has been saved from acute rabies. "At times, people neglect bites and fail to follow the vaccine schedule.

In such cases if the patient has a recent history of a bite, the doctor can assert that the encephalitis is owing to an animal bite. But confirming the doctor's finding through a laboratory test was not possible earlier," said Dr Chaudhary.

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