Hey guys! I'm making this post for fellow sabahans who may not know the process of getting their post rabies vaccine at Sabah! Because of the widespread of rabies currently, I figured it's the right time to post this.
Backstory: I got bitten by my own dog (he is rabies vaccinated) while trying to separate a dog fight between him and my other dog.
I got bitten at 10am at 23rd of September, panicked and freaked out because I was home alone. Called my sister and she rushed home and brought me to the clinic. General rule of when you get bitten, IMMEDIATELY run the wound under clean fresh water but I didn't do this because I was scared and still have adrenaline pumping through me. Pain level 0/10, didn't really feel it.
At the clinic (there was a lot of people btw) but after seeing that I was bleeding, the doctor immediately tended to me first and was immediately given a tetanus shot. They will ask routine questions too like 'is it your own dog or a stray dog?, is your dog vaccinated?' things like that. Clinic that I went too is Medisabah Family Clinic, 10/10 doctor and nurses.
The case will immediately get sent to KKM and then you will get a WhatsApp message/call from them to tell you to get a rabies vaccine. And they will also give you a Google form to fill out (location the bite happened at, own dog or stray etc). You can choose if you want to get the vaccine or not. And in the Google form, they'd ask if the clinic has given you a referral letter to get your rabies vaccines or not, if not you can get a letter directly from KKM (they'll send it to you via email)
I, however chose not to get the vaccine (at first) but on the second day (because my dog is vaccinated and have 0 contact with any dogs/animals outside), my arm was so swollen that the doctor from the clinic told me to go get the vaccine. They wrote me a referral letter to Klinik Kesihatan Penampang to get the vaccine.
The next day, I went to Klinik Kesihatan to get the vaccines. Just show the officers the referral letter and they'll guide you to register, take your weight, height and blood pressure and then your vaccines.
You will be given 1 set of injections on both arms at the same time to count as 1 vaccine. And you will receive vaccines on Day 0, Day 3 and Day 7 from the date of when you're given your first set of injections.
So I got a total of 7 injections in less than a week's time. The wound also cannot be sutured because dog bites carry a lot of bacteria and they have to let the wound bleed out.
Of course if it's a stray dog, GET YOUR VACCINES IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT WAIT IT OUT. I waited mine because it was my own dog and he's vaccinated.
And also because I was chased by a pack of stray dogs at Plaza 333 last week. Unprovoked btw and it was my first time being chased, freaked me out too. I was at the back of Baru Cafe, waiting on my mom to finish talking to the car washing owner. One stray dog came and approached me, I ignored it and continued talking to my sister. The stray dog suddenly started barking and his barks alerted 2 other stray dogs and they came, barking and approaching me and my sister.
My dad taught us before that if stray dogs are chasing, do not run so instead we calmly walked away. They chased us all the way until we turned the corner and went over to Tealive. Close call too (I didn't get the rabies vaccines just to get chased by strays 😭). Debated on reporting the dogs to the council but not too sure.
Feel free to ask questions below!
Edited to add: your dog's annual booster vaccines DO NOT cover rabies. Rabies vaccines are a whole separate vaccine that your dog have to get to be considered rabies vaccinated.
