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

Thiruvananthapuram: A 12-year-old girl who was on ventilator support after being bitten by a stray dog a few weeks ago died at the Kottayam Medical College despite having taken three doses of the anti-rabies vaccine.  

The Kerala Health Department sources said that "clinical features indicated that the child died due to rabies, but we are awaiting results of the confirmatory test from the National Institute of Virology in Pune."

The girl, a native of Ranni in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, was bitten several times by a stray dog when she had gone to buy milk on the morning of August 14. After being bitten, she was immediately taken to a hospital and had received three doses of the anti-rabies vaccine to date and was scheduled to get the fourth one on September 10. 

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However, on Friday evening, as her health deteriorated, she was taken to the Pathanamthitta General Hospital, but since her condition was serious, she was then shifted to Kottayam Medical College, PTI reports.

The doctors treating her at the hospital had collected some samples and sent them to the institute of virology in Pune for testing. However, even before the test results came, Abhirami passed away.

On Saturday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George ordered the setting up of a medical board to treat the 12-year-old child.

With anxiety mounting in the state over the recent deaths due to rabies infection despite vaccination, the Chief Minister had told the Assembly last week that the government would set up an expert panel to examine the quality of the anti-rabies vaccine being given in hospitals in Kerala.

A suo moto case has also been filed in the Supreme Court over the recent deaths. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the plea on September 9 after the counsel pressed on the seriousness of the crisis. Stating that "God's own country" is transforming into "Dog's own country" with figures showing over 10 lakh dog bite incidents in the past five years, the advocate requested the court to direct the State Govt to adopt adequate measures to resolve the people's concerns.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently informed the State Assembly that the government would set up an expert panel to examine the quality of the anti-rabies vaccine being given in hospitals in the state.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George earlier directed the Director of Medical Education to set up a board by combining experts from different departments to study the quality of anti-rabies vaccines at the hospitals.

However, the matter raises concerns that despite taking anti-rabies vaccines, patients died in the state. Out of the 20 rabies-infected deaths, 15 are said to not have taken the prescribed anti-rabies vaccine, and one had only accepted the jab partially, TNIE reports. 

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