World Rabies Day is celebrated every year on 28 September to raise awareness about the prevention of rabies. The day is celebrated on the occasion of the death anniversary of renowned French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine and promoted the foundation of rabies prevention. It is an opportunity for communities, individuals, NGOs and governments to integrate and share their work. Every year a different theme is selected for World Rabies Day. The theme of World Rabies Day 2018 is "Share information about rabies: save lives". This topic highlights the importance of education and awareness to prevent rabies. One can share rabies information at different levels, such as at the policy level, to achieve the goal of "zero human death from rabies by the year 2030" and community level information such as healing of wounds (dog's In case of a bite, wound and postexposure vaccination care) and dog bite prevention for school children can be prevented from rabies.

What is rabies ?: Rabies is a viral disease. By the time its symptoms begin, it is always fatal, but it is completely preventable. Despite this, an estimated 59000 people die from rabies every year, with 90 percent of the world's children living in rural areas of Africa and Asia.

Rabies is a major public health problem in India, causing an estimated 20,000 deaths annually. It is endemic throughout the country except Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

It spreads from animals to humans and in about 99 percent of human cases the cause is dog bites. The rabies virus enters the human body with bites, bruises and scratches and saliva of rabies-infested animals. Symptoms of rabies appear one to three months after a dog bite.

Children (children between five and fifteen years of age) are susceptible to dog bites and rabies due to their playful nature, as they often play with dogs without awareness of dog bites and disease. Children often hide dog bites / wounds from parents to avoid fear of scolding. Sometimes the child is not aware of the bite / scratch when the dogs are attacked and parents often ignore the attack or treat the wound by applying household products such as hot pepper or turmeric.

Prevention of Rabies - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has implemented "National Rabies Control Program" with an aim to prevent human death due to rabies and to prevent transmission of rabies through rabies (dog) control *.

According to the program, public awareness should be raised about rabies, the importance of requiring medical care immediately after a dog bite and various preventive measures. People should be educated about the following facts-

Educate people, especially children, about dog behavior and its body language (such as anger, cynicism, friendliness) to avoid dog bites.

For the prevention of rabies, take post exposure vaccination (post-bite vaccination) on dog bites.

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