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Child hospitalised with rabies in Texas in first case for a decade



A child who was bitten by a bat has been hospitalised with a “rare human case of rabies,” the Texas Department of State Health revealed.

Officials said that all those who came in contact with the infected child have been contacted by public health personnel. It was reported that officials were trying to assess whether they need post-exposure rabies vaccines.

This is the first human case of rabies in Texas since 2009.

The identity of the child, their age and the details of how the bat bit them have not been revealed by the officials. But it was reported that the child is a resident of Medina County and is receiving treatment in Texas.

Officials also didn’t reveal any additional information on the condition of the child, so the acuteness of their symptoms remains unclear.

According to the CDC, the rabies virus infects the central nervous system and if a person is not given the proper treatment and medical attention at the time, the virus can damage the brain which often results in death.

The CDC also mentions that in the US, the rabies virus is mostly carried by bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. However, in other parts of the world, dogs carry the rabies virus and most rabies deaths occur due to dog bites. According to WHO, dogs contribute up to 99 per cent of all rabies virus transmissions to humans.

In September, an Illinois man died of rabies following a bat bite. It was reported that the man had refused post-exposure rabies treatment.

The World Health Organisation says on its website that tens of thousands of deaths occur every year, mainly in Asia and Africa, due to the rabies virus. Globally, rabies causes an estimated cost of $8.6bn to the economy per year.



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