A US man died of rabies after being bitten by a bat. Although the American received a vaccination immediately afterwards, he died days later as a result of the infectious disease.
A man died as a result of a bat bite. (symbol photo) Image: Adobe Stock/Geza Farkas
A single bite killed an 84-year-old Minnesota man. On July 20, 2020, he woke up to find a bat nibbling on his hand. Some time later, he and his wife had post-exposure rabies prophylaxis (PEP). But the prophylaxis didn’t work.
Rabies after bat bite: Man (84) died of encephalitis
The man got worse for several months. In January 2021, he went to a clinic because the right side of his face was in extreme pain and he had too much tear fluid in his eyes. He was hospitalized three times. During his last visit, his eye was very red, he complained of night sweats, the pain increased and he had facial paralysis. Doctors later diagnosed him with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain mainly caused by viruses. The infection can also spread to the spinal cord. Bacteria, fungi or amoebas can also promote inflammation in the brain. The rabies viruses enter the human organism through the saliva of an infected animal, where they can also infect the brain. The man died 15 days after infection. A laboratory test revealed that the bat, which had contracted rabies, infected him with the virus. About the case will be inJournal of Clinical Infectious Diseases reported.
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Rabies vaccination did not work: First person died of rabies despite vaccine
The case is so special because the rabies prophylaxis did not work for him. This is the first known case of a rabies patient in the United States who died after receiving “timely and appropriate” prophylactic treatment,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The fact that the vaccination did not work may be due to an undiagnosed immune deficiency. Because in immunosuppressed people it can happen that vaccines cause no or only a limited immune response in the body. The deceased man suffered from a number of pre-existing conditions, including diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, kidney problems and an enlarged prostate.
Rabies is almost always fatal unless patients receive medication before symptoms appear. They usually appear three to eight weeks after infection begins. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 59,000 people die from the disease worldwide every year. Five people died from rabies in the United States in 2021, including the 84-year-old man and a seven-year-old boy.
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