CHENNAI: A 47-year-old autorickshaw driver from Royapettah, who was fully vaccinated following exposure, died of rabies at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Saturday afternoon after being bitten by a stray dog in July. He is the 22nd person to die of rabies in Tamil Nadu this year.
Despite protocol requiring local bodies to capture and observe aggressive strays after instances of dog bites, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) said it had not done so but would now undertake an anti-rabies vaccination drive in the locality, nearly two months after the man was attacked.
Health department officials said that A Mohammed Nasarudeen, a resident of Koya Arunagiri 2nd Street, died despite having received all four doses of the anti-rabies vaccination.
“We are investigating the case to understand what led to the death in spite of completion of the four-dose vaccination schedule. The findings will be known only after the inquiry,” Dr A Somasundaram, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, told TNIE on Sunday.
Police sources said that Nasarudeen, the sole breadwinner of his family, was bitten by a stray dog on his right leg near the auto stand at Gafoor Sahib Street on July 28. He sought treatment the same evening at the Royapettah Government Hospital, where doctors administered the Rabies Immunoglobulin and the first dose of Anti-Rabies Vaccine. Sources said he later received the remaining three ARV doses, but they could not confirm exact dates of administration.
Mohammed Samirudeen (23), the victim’s son, told TNIE that on September 10, Nasarudeen complained of severe back pain.
Corpn failed to isolate rabid dog soon after the incident
On September 11, Nasarudeen visited a private hospital in Royapettah where he was given painkillers. “We did inform the doctor about the dog bite history,” Samirudeen said.
Later that day, the pain intensified in Nasarudeen’s back and right leg, accompanied by itching. He was again taken to the same hospital, where he was given IV fluids, and sent home. On September 12, as Nasarudeen experienced difficulty in swallowing water, he was taken back to the private hospital, and the doctors diagnosed it to be rabies, Samirudeen said.
The family then shifted him to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital at 1.30 am on Saturday, where he was kept in an isolation ward under observation.
Despite medical intervention, Nasrudeen’s condition deteriorated around 3 am, and he succumbed on Saturday afternoon. Senior resident doctors at RGGGH certified the cause of death as probable rabies encephalitis.
Samirudeen said that his father had no health issues except high blood pressure, which was also under control.
Health department officials said Nasarudeen’s case details were uploaded on the Integrated Health Information Platform by the Royapettah GH after he received treatment there and the medical superintendent would have directly alerted the GCC as per protocol.
However, Samirudeen said GCC officials only contacted the family on Sunday to ask which dog had bitten his father. “This should have been done on the day of the incident,” he pointed out.
GCC officials admitted to TNIE that the dog was not isolated soon after the incident occurred and said the rabid dog would have died within days of biting Nasarudeen.
They also admitted that they were unaware as to whether it had bitten other dogs or humans in the locality. “We are set to carry out a thorough anti-rabies vaccination drive for the dogs in the area,” a corporation official said.