Doctors initially mistook his symptoms for herpes, delaying rabies treatment \u2014 medical report reveals rapid decline after neurological signs appeared.<\/p>\n
An 11-year-old Canadian boy died from rabies after waking up with the feeling that a bat had ended up on his nose and in his mouth. The incident occurred while vacationing at a cottage in northern Ontario in 2024, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.<\/p>\n
In the report, the child\u2019s name was not disclosed; the boy\u2019s father caught the bat in a pot and released it outside.<\/p>\n
Because there were no visible signs of a bite on the child\u2019s body, and the bat\u2019s behavior did not appear unusual, the parents did not seek medical help initially.<\/p>\n
Nineteen days after the incident, the boy experienced tingling and numbness on the right side of his face, developed facial swelling and loss of appetite.<\/p>\n
Four days after the onset of symptoms, the local emergency service prescribed anti-herpes medication, assuming herpes-related facial palsy.<\/p>\n
Confirmation of Diagnosis and Consequences<\/p>\n
Thereafter the boy was taken to a city hospital with pain on swallowing and vomiting; examination found ulcers on the gums and a moderate impairment of the nerve on the right side of the face, which controls sensation and chewing.<\/p>\n
The family told the doctors about the bat incident, and the next day the emergency physician informed the local public health service.<\/p>\n
The boy was discharged with a preliminary diagnosis of herpetic gingivostomatitis, but the rabies diagnosis was confirmed the next day.<\/p>\n
The next morning he was readmitted to the hospital with weakness of the right side of the face, reduced sensation, and speech impairment; his condition rapidly deteriorated, he was connected to a ventilator and transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).<\/p>\n
When we saw the patient in the PICU, we seriously suspected rabies.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Doctors<\/p>\n
PCR confirmed the diagnosis of rabies on the fourth day of hospitalization, and CFIA also identified the bat-transmitted rabies virus variant. The boy died on the 17th day of his hospital stay.<\/p>\n
Rabies is a virus that affects the central nervous system of humans and other animals and is typically fatal after symptoms appear. Infection occurs through bites or contact with the bodily fluids of an infected animal. According to CVMA, rabies cases among people in Canada are extremely rare \u2013 since 1924 only a few dozen such cases have been recorded.<\/p>\n
According to the World Health Organization, rabies poses a serious health threat in more than 150 countries worldwide, particularly in Africa and Asia, where tens of thousands of cases are reported annually; children under 15 years old comprise a significant portion of those affected.<\/p>\n
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also emphasize the importance of vaccinating pets and taking prompt action after contact with a potentially rabid animal. In the event of a bite or scratch, be sure to wash the wound with soap and water and seek medical help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doctors initially mistook his symptoms for herpes, delaying rabies treatment \u2014 medical report reveals rapid decline after neurological…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[251865,251864,111,43,139,69,251866,251867,39012,251868,147,406],"class_list":["post-504863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bat-rabies","tag-bat-rabies-pediatric-rabies-ontario-case-rabies-diagnosis-postexposure-prophylaxis","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ontario-case","tag-pediatric-rabies","tag-postexposure-prophylaxis","tag-rabies-diagnosis","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}