Bitten by a rabid dog, two boys were conscious until death

Mistakes in handling dog bites you need to know

(Baonghean.vn) - Rabies is extremely dangerous, threatening the victim's life. Most people when bitten by a dog are confused about how to respond, leading to unfortunate consequences. Below are the right and wrong ways to handle a dog bite.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Vu Huy, Head of the Department of Pediatrics, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that both children with rabies were ethnic minorities and were admitted to the hospital 5 days apart. Both children were admitted to the hospital too late, were alert, afraid of water, afraid of light, mentally stimulated, and had difficulty breathing.

A 12-year-old Muong boy from Hoa Binh died after 1 week of treatment, and a 9-year-old Mong patient from Lang Son died half a day after being hospitalized.

Both families did not know that their children had been bitten by a dog. The 12-year-old child was bitten on the hand by the family puppy but did not tell his parents until he became ill. Similarly, the 9-year-old child did not inform his family. After 13 days, the dog died, which was also when the child developed rabies.

Associate Professor Huy shared that seeing a patient having a seizure, struggling, agitated, gasping for breath... but still completely conscious, knowing that he was going to die made both relatives and doctors feel heartbroken because they could not save him.

In patients with rabies, almost 100% will die due to laryngeal spasm, causing respiratory failure.

When bitten by a rabid dog, the time of exposure to the virus in each person will be different, depending on the location of the bite because the rabies virus moves along the nerves to the spinal cord and brain at a fairly slow speed.

Some people only start having rabies after 20-30 days, but some people can have it for several months to a year. However, most people are subjective, when they see the bite wound heal and their health is still normal, they do not get vaccinated, until they are afraid of wind and water, they have already had rabies, there is no way to cure it.

Associate Professor Huy recommends that if you are bitten by a stray dog ​​or cat, you should get vaccinated immediately because you cannot monitor the animal. If you are bitten by a domestic dog, you should monitor it for 10 days. If the dog dies or becomes sick, you should get vaccinated.

Currently, Vietnam has allowed the circulation of 5 rabies vaccines. These vaccines no longer have the side effects that cause neurological sequelae as before.