Ghaziabad Kid Dies Of Rabies; Know About The Viral Disease, Its Symptoms And Prevention
According to the police, he was bitten by his neighbour's dog one-and-a-half months ago but hid it from his parents out of fear.
A 14-year-old boy who was bitten by a dog over a month ago and hid the incident from his parents died of rabies in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad.
Shahvaz, a student of class 8, died on Monday evening when he was being brought back to Ghaziabad from Bulandshahr, where he was taken for treatment after his condition deteriorated, news agency PTI reported quoting the police.
The boy was a resident of Charan Singh colony under the Vijay Nagar police station area. According to the police, he was bitten by his neighbour's dog one-and-a-half months ago but hid it from his parents out of fear.
He contracted rabies and started behaving abnormally and stopped eating on September 1. On being asked, he told his family members that he had been bitten by their neighbour's dog, the police said.
Shahvaz was taken to government hospitals in Delhi but he was not admitted there for treatment. At last, they took him to an Ayurvedic doctor in Bulandshahr for treatment, the family told the police.
The boy died when he was being brought back to Ghaziabad in an ambulance. A complaint has been lodged in the matter and action will be taken against the dog owner, said Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kotwali zone, Nimish Patil.
Here is all you need to know about rabies:
What Is Rabies?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease affecting the central nervous system.
Once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is virtually 100% fatal.
In up to 99% of cases, domestic dogs are responsible for rabies virus transmission to humans, the global health body says.
Yet, rabies can affect both domestic and wild animals. Rabies spreads to people and animals via saliva, usually through bites, scratches or direct contact with mucosa (e.g. eyes, mouth or open wounds).
Children between the age of 5 and 14 years are frequent victims.
WHO says that rabies is present on all continents except Antarctica, with over 95% of human deaths occurring in Asia and Africa. However, rabies cases are rarely reported and registered numbers differ greatly from the estimated burden.
Symptoms Of Rabies
The incubation period for rabies is typically 2–3 months but may vary from 1 week to 1 year, depending on factors such as the location of virus entry and the viral load.
Initial symptoms of rabies include generic signs like fever, pain and unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking, or burning sensations at the wound site.
As the virus moves to the central nervous system, progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops. Clinical rabies in people can be managed but very rarely cured, and not without severe neurological deficits.
There are two forms of rabies:
Furious rabies results in hyperactivity, excitable behaviour, hallucinations, lack of coordination, hydrophobia (fear of water) and aerophobia (fear of drafts or of fresh air). Death occurs after a few days due to cardio-respiratory arrest.
Paralytic rabies accounts for about 20% of the total number of human cases. This form of rabies runs a less dramatic and usually longer course than the furious form. Muscles gradually become paralysed, starting from the wound site. A coma slowly develops and eventually, death occurs. The paralytic form of rabies is often misdiagnosed, contributing to the under-reporting of the disease.
How To Prevent Rabies?
Vaccinating dogs, including puppies, is the most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people because it stops the transmission at its source. Moreover, dog vaccination reduces the need for PEP.
Education on dog behaviour and bite prevention for both children and adults is an essential extension of rabies vaccination programmes and can decrease both the incidence of human rabies and the financial burden of treating dog bites.
Immunization of people
Very effective vaccines are available to immunize people after an exposure (as PEP) or before an exposure to rabies.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is recommended for people in certain high-risk occupations (such as laboratory workers handling live rabies and rabies-related viruses) and people whose professional or personal activities might lead to direct contact with bats or other mammals that may be infected with rabies (such as animal disease control staff and wildlife rangers).
PrEP might be indicated also for outdoor travellers and people living in remote, highly rabies-endemic areas with limited local access to rabies biologics.
To know more about Rabies, visit the WHO website here.
(With PTI inputs)
