Karnataka: 5-year-old dies due to lack of administration of rabies shot, medical negligence alleged

Chikkaballapur: In an alleged case of medical negligence, a five-year-old boy suffering from a dog bite passed away after the doctors failed to administer rabies vaccination on time in the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. 

As the news spread, the public, including the boy's parents, staged a protest against the negligence of the doctors at Hosuru government hospital. They demanded to know why the boy was not administered the rabies vaccine while undergoing treatment for the dog bite.

Also Read:Rabies Prophylaxis in Children: IAP Guidelines

The deceased has been identified as Sameer Basha, son of Fairoz and Famida, who are residents of Korataladinne village.

On October 30, the boy was bitten by a dog while playing in the neighbourhood of his house. His parents rushed him to the nearby Hosur Government hospital where the doctor administered him an injection and sent them back. 

After the boy failed to recover, his parents took him to a private hospital in Gowribidanur town. Because of his critical condition, he was subsequently referred to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health in Bengaluru. The boy succumbed at the Indira Gandhi Hospital. The blood tests had shown that his brain was affected by the poison due to a dog bite. 

When the parents came to Hosur Government Hospital for the death certificate of their child, they learned that the doctor had not mentioned about administering rabies vaccination to their kid while he treated him. 

On being questioned, the doctor and staff gave vague answers. The parents, relatives, and public had staged a protest in this connection and demanded action against the doctor.

Rabies is a preventable viral disease most often transmitted through the saliva or bite of an infected animal, which infects the central nervous system of mammals, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death. Rabies is a silent killer in India as around 20,000 rabies-related human deaths out of the 59,000 global deaths are reported from India per year. A rabies-affected person can suffer from cerebral dysfunction causing extreme agitation, delirium, violent behaviour, hallucinations, hydrophobia and endless insomnia until death. Human rabies is 100% vaccine-preventable.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) had developed the 'Zero by 30: The Global Strategic Plan' with an aim to end human deaths from dog mediated rabies by 2030, of which India is also a part. 

Also Read:Kerala: 12-year-old girl dies of rabies at Kottayam Medical College despite 3 anti-rabies jabs