India, Feb. 27 -- The Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and BJ Medical College (BJMC) are facing an acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and anti-rabies serum (ARS) due to a large number of dog bite cases, particularly from areas under the jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). These patients are supposed to be treated by the civic body leading to a shortage of drugs at SGH, said the officials.

The SGH is a tertiary care hospital and is supposed to treat extreme animal bite cases including, dog bites. In a month the hospital treats around 1200 to 1300 dog bite cases. Most of these patients are regular dog bite cases and don't require treatment at a tertiary care facility. This exhausts the critical ARV and ASV stock in...