Puppy/Dog Bite

Yesterday morning, I was playing with my puppy, and she accidentally bit me in the face. There was a minor scratch from the teeth but no blood came out. The pup doesn't have her anti-rabies shot yet since she's only 1-month old. She cannot have it until she's 3 months.

After a whole day of thinking and research, I decided to go to San Lazaro Hospital for treatment. In Manila, San Lazaro Hospital is the authority when it comes to dog bites . The hospital is government-run so expect the people (especially the office personnel) to treat you haughtily. We had to go to the ER since we arrived 12MN and the OPD is already closed.

Here are the steps we went through:

1. Filled out some information sheets.

2. Paid OPD card fee: P150.00 (I don't know what this is for)

3. Submitted the sheets.

4. Waited for the guard to call us for history taking.

5. History taking. Here, my category was III since I was bitten in the face. Read more about category III here: http://www.doh.gov.ph/faq/show/451.html

6. Waited again for a doctor to give us prescriptions and go signal for the skin tests.

7. Went to the nurses' station to have myself checked for ERIG allergy.

8. Waited 30 mins for the nurse to assess the test.

9. Looked for people to share half of the PVRV. The total price of the drug including syringes is P995.00. This if or 2 persons already.

10. Nurse assesses the skin test

11. Get the PVRV shot.

12. Buy ERIG if you're not allergic to it. I needed 3 ERIGs and it cost me P3,974.10 including the syringes.

Some might need anti-tetanus shot but I had one last March. It costs 45 pesos I think in San Lazaro. After 4 hours, we still have to go back after 3, 7, and 30 days to have another PVRV. That's another 995/2 X 3 visits.

All in all, it'll cost me roughly P6,000. It's a small price to pay for the peace of mind of being rabies-free.

I think if you have the money or HMO, opt for the private hospitals for faster treatment. But I've heard some of them do not have stocks of the medicines. If that's the case, San Lazaro Hospital is still there.