THE Southern Philippines Medical Center–Animal Bite Treatment Center (SPMC-ABTC) raised alarm over a growing practice among bite victims: rubbing garlic on wounds.
"Rare nalang po ang tandok, ang atoang kalaban karun is garlic, naga apply ug garlic, ahos, so ngayon amoang problema sa center is that they come into us nakapahid na ug garlic (Tandok cases are now rare. Our main concern today is garlic; people apply garlic to bite wounds. So the problem we face at the center is that patients come to us with garlic already rubbed on the wound)," said Dr. Candice Chua Sanchez, consultant of SPMC-ABTC, during the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao on Monday, September 29.
Sanchez recalled a 2021 case where a child’s bite wound was treated with freshly cooked garlic. Instead of healing, the child suffered a burn and needed more medication.
“Rubbing garlic makes the wound worse and increases the need for treatment,” she said.
She added that while tandok, an old practice of sucking out rabies through animal horns or direct suction, is no longer common, patients are still asked if they’ve undergone it. Since 2017, fewer people have relied on tandok, a decline she attributed to sustained information drives promoting vaccination.
Sanchez stressed that rubbing garlic on bite wounds should be avoided, as it can trigger bacterial growth and worsen the injury.
What is tandok?
A study (Roles of Traditional Medicine and Traditional Healers for Rabies Prevention and Potential Impacts on Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) on traditional rabies treatment explains that tandok is the practice of using an animal horn or tawak to suck out rabies from a wound, often through direct mouth suction by a healer. Some also apply garlic or vinegar, while others cut the wound to make it bleed.
Many still believe that rubbing garlic on a dog or cat bite can neutralize toxins.
Sanchez said that despite repeated medical warnings, these beliefs remain common. She added that some patients also think they should not bathe, tie a tourniquet, or force the wound to bleed - practices that only worsen the condition.
She also said that the proper first aid for an animal bite is straightforward: thoroughly wash the wound with running water and seek immediate treatment at the nearest Animal Bite Treatment Center.
Rising animal bite cases
SPMC-ABTC treated 3,618 patients from January to March 2025, most of them adults bitten by dogs or cats. By April to June, the number almost doubled to 6,491. The facility also recorded rare cases of bites from pigs, monkeys, and even a horse.
In 2024, SPMC-ABTC saw 18,943 patients — 14,017 of them classified as Category III, or severe cases. The breakdown showed 7,324 dog bites, 11,605 cat bites, six monkey bites, and eight pig bites.
The World Health Organization warns that rabies, a viral disease attacking the central nervous system, remains fatal but preventable through vaccination. Dogs cause 99 percent of human rabies cases worldwide, with transmission often occurring through bites, scratches, or contact with saliva on open wounds, eyes, or the mouth. RGP