After killing Hasnain, stray dogs claim life of another boy from Larkana

A few months after the death of Hasnain, a six-year-old boy who was mauled by a pack of dogs in Larkana and later died of the resulting complications at a hospital in Karachi in December last year, another boy from Larkana died at a hospital in Karachi on Wednesday due to full-blown rabies.

According to the Indus Hospital where nine-year-old Zeeshan breathed his last, the boy was bitten by a rabid dog in his hometown and was not properly vaccinated despite approaching the public health facility in his area.

“Today, the nine-year old boy from Larkana died at the Indus Hospital Karachi due to full-blown rabies. He was probably mauled on face by a rabid dog in his hometown. His parents took him to a public health facility where they gave him some injections but apparently the anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) was not administered properly and immunoglobulin was not given to the ill-fated boy,” said Aftab Gohar, the incharge of the dog-bite centre at the Indus Hospital Karachi.

Zeeshan is the second unfortunate boy from Larkana who died in recent months due to dog bite. Earlier, six-year-old Hasnain, who had been mauled by stray dogs when he was playing outside his residence, passed away despite his treatment at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi for over a month. Hasnain, however, did not die of rabies.

With the death of Zeeshan, the number of rabies encephalistis deaths in Sindh in 2020 has reached six. Officials said that of the six victims, three died at the Indus Hospital Karachi while the other three passed away at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The victims also include two children.

The Indus Hospital’s dog-bite centre claims that they have so far received 3,000 victims of dog bite from the entire Sindh, of whom a majority were children. It also highlights the fact that the government has yet to take an effective action against the rising number of stray dogs in the city and other parts of the province.

Gohar said Zeeshan was taken to the Civil Hospital Larkana after his condition deteriorated despite receiving several ‘so-called ARV injections’. The Civil Hospital Larkana referred him to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi. “The NICH referred him to the Indus Hospital as the boy had already developed full-blown rabies and nothing could have been done to save his life.”

He stated that a few weeks back, a seven-year old boy from the New Karachi area was brought to the Indus Hospital with full blown rabies. The boy had not received any anti-rabies vaccine, he said and added that an adult from a small town of Sindh also passed away at the Indus Hospital a few months back after he had developed rabies encephalitis.

“When a rabid dog bites a person and the wound is very deep, the patient must be given immunoglobulin immediately, which contains antibodies that fight the rabies virus transmitted to the body of the person through the saliva of the rabid dog. In addition to immunoglobulin, the patient should be given four to five doses of an international quality anti-rabies vaccine,” Gohar said.

Experts say any person who is bitten by dogs should wash their wounds with soap and water thoroughly and then rush to some tertiary-care hospital for vaccination.