Stray dog bites three-year-old on nine places and five others

PUNE: A stray dog bit six persons, including a three-year-old girl, at Anjali Nagar in Katraj between 11.30am and 12.30pm on Friday.

Three of them are undergoing treatment at Bharati Hospital in Dhankawdi and two are being treated at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital. The officials could not trace the sixth person, who, according to the residents, was also bitten by the same dog. The residents later killed the dog suspecting it had gone rabid.

Paediatrician Sanjay Lalwani, the medical director of Bharati Hospital, said, “All the three patients were immediately administered anti-rabies vaccine and fast acting rabies antibodies (immunoglobulins) for immediate deactivation of the rabies virus. Their condition is stable.”

The health officials of the Pune Municipal Corproation (PMC) visited the patients at Bharati Hospital. “We have provided the hospital with the required prophylaxis, including vaccines and antibodies, for the patients’ treatment. Besides, we caught hold of a few more dogs from the neighbourhood (Anjalinagar) as they were mingling with the stray dog, who bit the six residents,” said civic medical officer Dinesh Bende.

The dog first bit an 18-year-old girl walking by the road, followed by an 80-year-old man and his three-year-old granddaughter. Then it bit three other adults.

“The dog bit the three-year-old girl on nine places, mainly on the right thigh and right buttocks. These are small but deep bites. She has suffered deep wound, as large as approximately 5cm, on the right thigh and also wounds of 4cm, 3cm and 2cm on the same right thigh,” said surgeon Ravindra Kharat of Bharati hospital.

Fortunately, the dog did not bite the child on the upper part of the body. “The bites on the upper part of the body can damage intestines and chest ribs. Besides, the bites on the neck can be dangerous to life,” Kharat said.

The grandfather of the three-year-old child suffered very deep wound on the left calf (just below the knee). “The wound ran so deep that it exposed his tibial bone. The large skin flap which got detached had turned black (necrotic) and had to be partially excised. He also suffered lacerated wound on the other side (back side) of the calf. The dog also bit him on the knee.”

The 18-year-old girl suffered bites on the left calf and left foot. “These are punctured wounds. That means the dog bit her and left her immediately. The bite on her foot is punctured as well as lacerated, as she must have pulled her leg when the dog bit her.”

A doctor of Sassoon General Hospital, where two persons are undergoing treatment, said, “We have administered them anti-rabies vaccine and fast acting anti-rabies antibodies (immunoglobulins).”

According to the PMC’s records, three persons have died of rabies virus so far this year.