Kerala reports third death due to rabies despite vaccination

A seven-year-old girl died due to rabies at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram nearly a month after she was bitten by a stray dog and despite receiving all three doses of the anti-rabies vaccine and the immunoglobulin serum, officials said on Monday.

The girl, identified as Niya Faisal, from Pathanapuram in Kollam district was attacked by stray dogs in front of her home on April 8, her parents told health officials.

Importantly, this is the third fatality of a child due to rabies in the state despite vaccination in the span of a month. The previous two victims were Bhagyalakshmi (13) from Pathanamthitta district on April 9 and Ziya Faris (6) from Malappuram district on April 29, both of whom were bitten by stray dogs.

Habira, the mother of Niya, told reporters on Monday that local officials did nothing to fight the menace of increasing number of stray dogs in the area despite numerous requests.

“The stray dogs were always attracted to food waste being dumped illegally on the side of the road near our home. We told officials repeatedly to ensure clearing of waste from there. But they did nothing. The dogs that came to eat from the waste attacked my little girl,” Habira said crying.

The girl was first admitted to the nearest health centre and subsequently to the government taluk hospital the same day where she was administered the vaccine and the immunoglobulin serum. The wounds were cleaned and she had begun to recover in a few days, officials said.

However, the girl began reporting fever on April 29 and was admitted to the taluk hospital where it was confirmed that she had rabies infection. She was subsequently referred to the SAT hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was undergoing treatment for the past few days. She died at 1 am on Monday.

As per the figures shared by the state health department, there have been 22 deaths due to rabies despite receiving vaccine in the state since 2021.