Rabies death toll in the State rises to 10 with the death of a 16 year old boy in Khammam district and a 70 year old man in Guntur district yesterday. Incidents of rabid dog bites are being reported for the past three weeks in the state. During the last 24 hrs. stray dogs bit 10 persons in Vejendla village of Chebrolu Mandal in Guntur district. So far, most of the deaths have been reported from East Godawari district.

The 16 year old boy, Challa Babu from Danavaigudem under Khammam rural mandal, was bitten by a stray dog while carrying food for his father on 2 May. He was shifted to the Khammam government hospital the same day but was denied treatment and anti-rabies vaccine. He was given only a TT injection and was told to go to the urban health centre for further treatment. But the boy was reportedly not admitted to the urban health centre. Instead, he was taken to a private hospital in Khammam on Saturday where the doctors said he was suffering from rabies and his chances of survival were slim. He succumbed to the disease on Sunday while being treated at the hospital. The district collector, Mr Siddartha Jain, ordered an inquiry into the boy’s death.

While three more cases of rabies were detected in Khammam district, rabid dog bites have injured at least 13 people in Medak district in the last two days. So far, eight people have died of rabies in East Godavari district, most of them at the Kakinada government hospital in the last three weeks. With the death of 16-year-old Balu, rabies deaths have now spread to the Telangana region. In Medak district, seven people were bitten by the same dog at Gopalapuram village on Sunday while six others suffered dog bites at Siddipet on Saturday. Most of them were shifted to Fever Hospital in Hyderabad, said the DMHO, Dr C. Ranga Rao.