Bitten on the neck and chin by a family dog, 2-year-old boy in critical condition due to rabies

On June 8, according to information from the National Children's Hospital, the hospital's doctors received a 2-year-old boy with rabies and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Dr. Dao Huu Nam - Head of the Intensive Care Department, Center for Tropical Diseases said that the Department received a 2-year-old boy with rabies and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Taking the medical history, the family said that 1 month before being admitted to the hospital, the child was bitten by the family's pet dog (not vaccinated against rabies) on the neck and chin. Immediately after being bitten, the child's wound was only washed with soap and was not injected with rabies vaccine or anti-rabies serum. About 8 days before being admitted to the hospital, the child had a fever and unusual symptoms, so the family took him to the provincial hospital for treatment with a diagnosis of rabies. However, the child's condition became increasingly severe and rapidly changed, so he was transferred to the National Children's Hospital.

At the Intensive Care Unit (Tropical Disease Center), the child showed signs of fear of wind, phlegm secretion, agitation, restlessness, and panic. The child was tested for saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, and a biopsy of the skin of the nape of the neck, and the diagnosis was confirmed to be rabies. To treat the child, doctors used vasopressors, targeted therapy to increase intracranial pressure, and respiratory support for the child. However, the child is currently in a deep coma, with a poor prognosis and a high risk of death.

Doctor Dao Huu Nam added that every year, the Department receives a number of children with rabies for examination and treatment. Most of the children hospitalized have not been vaccinated because their parents lack knowledge about rabies, subjectively believe that the dog bit them and at the time of the bite, the dog was normal, fear of rabies vaccines, some cases of children being bitten by dogs but not telling their families...

Doctor Nam recommends that if a child is unfortunately attacked by an animal, the family should take the child to a medical facility for consultation, wound treatment, and timely rabies vaccination and anti-rabies serum.

Rabies is a dangerous infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans through saliva, bites, and scratches.

In Vietnam, although authorities have continuously recommended the vaccination of people who have been attacked by animals with rabies vaccine and anti-rabies serum, there are still many deaths from this disease every year. It is worth mentioning that because of the subjective mentality of "domestic dogs and cats", families do not comply with vaccination, leading to many unfortunate consequences.

According to statistics from the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), in the first 3 months of 2024, 16/63 provinces nationwide recorded cases of rabies in humans, of which the Central region recorded a sudden increase in the number of rabies deaths, currently the highest in the country (10 cases); The Central Highlands and the South continued to increase (of which Dak Lak: 4 cases, Long An: 3 cases).

100% of rabies deaths are due to not getting vaccinated against rabies, getting vaccinated late or not as prescribed; up to 43% of people subjectively think that their dog bit them when they were normal so they did not get vaccinated against rabies.