Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective
India bears the highest burden of global dog-mediated human rabies deaths. Despite this, rabies is not notifiable in India and continues to be underprioritised in public health discussions. This review examines the historical treatment of rabies in British India, a disease which has received relativ...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2020
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| _version_ | 1826281627346534400 |
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| author | Radhakrishnan, S Vanak, AT Nouvellet, P Donnelly, CA |
| author_facet | Radhakrishnan, S Vanak, AT Nouvellet, P Donnelly, CA |
| author_sort | Radhakrishnan, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | India bears the highest burden of global dog-mediated human rabies deaths. Despite this, rabies is not notifiable in India and continues to be underprioritised in public health discussions. This review examines the historical treatment of rabies in British India, a disease which has received relatively less attention in the literature on Indian medical history. Human and animal rabies was widespread in British India, and treatment of bite victims imposed a major financial burden on the colonial Government of India. It subsequently became a driver of Pasteurism in India and globally and a key component of British colonial scientific enterprise. Efforts to combat rabies led to the establishment of a wide network of research institutes in India and important breakthroughs in development of rabies vaccines. As a result of these efforts, rabies no longer posed a significant threat to the British, and it declined in administrative and public health priorities in India towards the end of colonial rule—a decline that has yet to be reversed in modern-day India. The review also highlights features of the administrative, scientific and societal approaches to dealing with this disease in British India that persist to this day. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:31:38Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:7fffa9e4-02c5-4cd0-880a-df6960038521 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:31:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:7fffa9e4-02c5-4cd0-880a-df69600385212022-03-26T21:20:31ZRabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspectiveJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7fffa9e4-02c5-4cd0-880a-df6960038521EnglishSymplectic ElementsMDPI2020Radhakrishnan, SVanak, ATNouvellet, PDonnelly, CAIndia bears the highest burden of global dog-mediated human rabies deaths. Despite this, rabies is not notifiable in India and continues to be underprioritised in public health discussions. This review examines the historical treatment of rabies in British India, a disease which has received relatively less attention in the literature on Indian medical history. Human and animal rabies was widespread in British India, and treatment of bite victims imposed a major financial burden on the colonial Government of India. It subsequently became a driver of Pasteurism in India and globally and a key component of British colonial scientific enterprise. Efforts to combat rabies led to the establishment of a wide network of research institutes in India and important breakthroughs in development of rabies vaccines. As a result of these efforts, rabies no longer posed a significant threat to the British, and it declined in administrative and public health priorities in India towards the end of colonial rule—a decline that has yet to be reversed in modern-day India. The review also highlights features of the administrative, scientific and societal approaches to dealing with this disease in British India that persist to this day. |
| spellingShingle | Radhakrishnan, S Vanak, AT Nouvellet, P Donnelly, CA Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title | Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title_full | Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title_fullStr | Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title_short | Rabies as a public health concern in India – a historical perspective |
| title_sort | rabies as a public health concern in india a historical perspective |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT radhakrishnans rabiesasapublichealthconcerninindiaahistoricalperspective AT vanakat rabiesasapublichealthconcerninindiaahistoricalperspective AT nouvelletp rabiesasapublichealthconcerninindiaahistoricalperspective AT donnellyca rabiesasapublichealthconcerninindiaahistoricalperspective |