10 year old boy dies from rabid dog bite

VnExpress• DNUM_BJZAHZCABJ 06:09

Three months after being bitten by a neighbor's dog, a boy in Dak Lak developed rabies and died.

Mr. Pham Van Lao - Director of Dak Lak Preventive Medicine Center said that when the child was bitten by a dog, relatives saw that the wound was only a light scratch so they did not take him for rabies vaccination.

On July 15, the child had a fever, fatigue, fear of wind, fear of water, loss of appetite..., the family took him to the Central Highlands General Hospital for treatment. Doctors diagnosed the child with rabies, the next day he died.

Authorities are investigating and handling the dogs, and encouraging people bitten by dogs to get anti-rabies serum and vaccine.

Since the beginning of the year, many people have died from dog bites due to injuries or rabies. At the end of June, a 29-year-old man in Kon Tum suffered a rabies attack and died 3 months after being bitten by his family dog. Four other family members were also bitten by dogs and are being monitored.

100% fatality rate when bitten by a rabid dog without vaccination.

At the end of April, a 14-year-old boy in this province was also bitten on the leg by a neighbor's dog, developed rabies and died after 1 month. Dak Lak has over 500,000 dogs, in 2018 more than 13,000 people were bitten by dogs.

Previously, a 7-year-old boy was attacked by his family's dog while going to the toilet at home in Thai Nguyen. He was taken to the emergency room but died due to severe injuries.

In early April, a 7-year-old boy in Hung Yen was bitten by a pack of neighbor's dogs. He was hospitalized in a state of cardiac arrest, lost a lot of blood and died.

Also in April, Mr. Bui Van Tuan (32 years old) and his son in Hoa Binh died of rabies 2 months after being bitten by their pet dog.

In 2018, Vietnam recorded 86 deaths from rabies, an increase of 12 cases compared to 2017.

When bitten by a dog, it is necessary to inject anti-rabies serum, monitor the dog's progress to see if it has rabies or not to proactively prevent it. Pet dogs need to be fully vaccinated against rabies.