Vaccinated seven-year-old dies of rabies in Kollam, India

A seven-year-old female child succumbed to rabies at the Emergency Department of Sree Avittom Thirunal (SAT) Hospital, where she was receiving treatment. The patient, a resident of Kunnikode, Kollam, Kerala state, had been admitted following a bite from a stray canine. Despite the administration of three rabies vaccine doses and immunoglobulin serum, the child’s condition deteriorated, resulting in her demise. Hospital officials have reported that the bite led to a vascular rupture, facilitating the transmission of the virus to the patient’s brain. This incident represents the third rabies-related fatality in the state within the past month. The two preceding victims were identified as a thirteen-year-old from Pathanamthitta and a six-year-old from Malappuram. Data from the Kerala Health Department indicates that, over the preceding five years, twenty-one individuals have died from rabies despite having received prophylactic vaccination.