Toddler dies from suspected rabies

Toddler dies from suspected rabies

A four-year-old boy, who was suspected of contracting rabies after a dog bit him six months ago, died in Sanglah Hospital last Tuesday.

The Badung health authority did not inform the press about the boy's death. The Jakarta Post learned about it from a source who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

The Post managed to get official confirmation of the death Monday.

The boy, whose initials were KT, was a resident of Kutuh village, South Kuta, which has been classified as a rabies-prone area.

It is not yet clear whether the boy had in fact died of rabies as hospital officials could not provide laboratory results yet, but observations indicated the boy had shown symptoms similar to rabies-infected patients prior to his death, including fear of water, uncontrollable convulsions and excessive drooling.

"Public testimonies and the physician in the South Kuta public health center said KT was exhibiting symptoms of rabies infection, but he died before the laboratory results had come back," said I Ketut Suiadnyana, head of Disease Observation and Prevention at the Badung Health Agency.

"We are currently working to gather the boy's medical history."

Kutuh village Chief I Wayan Litra confirmed KT was bitten by a dog six months ago and the dog that had bitten him died a week later.

"Soon after the boy came down with a high fever but was nursed back to health. Then last week he began convulsing uncontrollably so his parents took him to Sanglah Hospital where he died," Litra said.

Head of South Kuta's public health center, Sastrawan, said he planned to interview KT's parents to verify whether the boy had been bitten a second time and to gather other relevant medical information.

Four people are believed to have died from rabies in the past few months. The alleged victims were Putu Linda, Made Artana, Oktaf Rahmana and Made Wirata, all of whom died after being bitten by dogs.

Of the four, only Wirata showed clinical symptoms specific to rabies-infected patients.

The discovery of a rabid canine on Nov. 26 last year, and the number of deaths, has prompted Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika to declare south Kuta a rabies-prone area.

The province conducted a mass culling and vaccination program in the area, which was recently expanded to include south Denpasar, the area adjacent to south Kuta.

The program is called Lirikan Indah, literally meaning a beautiful glance. It stands for kenali (identify), hindari (avoid), laporkan (report), vaksin (vaccinate) and rumahkan (leash).

Banners and billboards have been put up in the area to warn people against transporting dogs, cats, or primates into and out of Bali until the rabies situation is under control.

Also, 503 wild dogs have been culled from south Kuta since the outbreak.

I Gusti Ngurah Mahardika, a veterinarian and rabies management team member, said rabies was 100 percent preventable if an infected person was immediately vaccinated and the bite wound immediately cleaned with soap.

"The most important thing is not to let dogs roam wild, outside the house. One infected dog can transmit the disease to 10 other dogs within a week," he said.

Luh De Suryani , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Tue, 01/06/2009 11:11 AM | Bali