6yo dies of dog bite ‘even after anti-rabies vax’

Agra: A six-year-old boy died three weeks after he was bitten by a stray dog in Agra's Pinahat area though he had received two doses of anti-rabies vaccine, his father Kunwar Singh, a daily wager, said on Tuesday.Anush, a nursery student from Ataiyapura village, was playing outside his home around 3pm on Jan 9 when a stray dog bit him on the head, causing a deep wound. He was taken to Pinahat community health centre where he received a vaccine dose that day and again on Jan 16. However, his condition deteriorated on Jan 26, with symptoms including high fever, abnormal behaviour and excessive salivation. His family admitted him to SN Medical College in Agra where doctors referred him to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Jan 29. Despite treatment, Anush died around 5 am on Sunday. His medical reports later confirmed rabies. CHC superintendent Dr Pramod Kushwaha said that dog bite cases generally require a four-dose anti-rabies vaccination schedule. "The dog bit the child on the head, which is extremely dangerous. In such cases, the virus can reach the brain very quickly," he said.Chief medical officer Dr Arun Srivastava said the anti-rabies vaccine is not fully effective on its own and emphasised the need for rabies immunoglobulin in severe cases. "In deep wounds or head-related bites, patients must be referred immediately to a higher medical centre. Immunoglobulin is crucial and is available at the district hospital," he said.In a similar incident, an eight-year-old girl died in Bah sub-division in Oct 2023 after a dog bite. In July 2022, a 10-year-old girl was killed after being mauled by stray dogs in Sikandra.