Karachi: Sindh’s reported rabies cases have risen to 39 this year after a 70-year-old man who had not received vaccination following a dog bite was admitted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in critical condition.
The latest patient is the tenth case reported at JPMC this year, while Indus Hospital Karachi has reported 29, according to hospital figures.
Hospital officials identified the patient as Syed Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Baldia Town, who was brought to the emergency department at around 2:16am on October 14. He had severe body rigidity and hydrophobia, commonly described as a fear of water, according to the hospital’s case summary.
Officials said the man had been bitten by a dog on his left hand and foot about 20 days earlier. He had not received anti-rabies vaccination after the incident, they added.
His blood pressure was 60/40mmHg and oxygen saturation was 84 per cent while breathing room air, the case summary stated. His Glasgow Coma Scale score, which measures a patient’s level of consciousness, was eight out of 15.
Medical staff immediately began resuscitation and consulted the neuromedicine team. He was admitted to the FGO Ward with a working diagnosis of rabies encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain caused by the rabies virus, according to the summary.
Rabies is almost invariably fatal once symptoms develop, according to the World Health Organisation. However, deaths can be prevented through prompt treatment after exposure, including wound washing, a course of rabies vaccination and rabies immunoglobulin where indicated.
WHO advises anyone bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal to immediately wash the wound with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes and seek medical attention. The exposure should be assessed promptly so that preventive treatment can begin before symptoms develop.