KARACHI: As government officials on Tuesday decided to activate facilities to ensure effective dog-bite treatment across the province, another rabies patient was reported at the Indus Hospital.

Sources said the patient, an 18-year-old boy from Chaman, Balochistan, presented with full-blown rabies on Monday at the Indus Hospital, raising the total number of the deadly infectious disease detected this year at the hospital to three.

Sources said the family left against medical advice after being counselled about the diagnosis and prognosis. The patient was bitten by a stray dog six weeks ago and received some treatment from a local general practitioner before reporting to the hospital.

“Right now, a 10-year-old boy from Sehwan, with a history of dog-bite and ascending paralysis, is being treated at the hospital. We suspect that this paralysis is caused by rabies. It will take some time for confirmation as we are ruling out other diseases,” said Aftab Gohar, Manager Rabies Prevention and Training Centre at the Indus Hospital.

Teenager from Balochistan was bitten by stray dog six weeks ago; CS reviews rabies control programme

He explained that there are two forms of rabies. “Furious rabies results in hyperactivity, mental confusion, hydrophobia (fear of water) and aerophobia (fear of drafts or of fresh air). Death occurs after a few days. In contrast, paralytic rabies usually runs a longer course for two to four weeks. Muscles gradually become paralysed, starting from the wound site, and the patient eventually dies.”

The world over, Mr Gohar pointed out, paralytic rabies, which accounts for 20 per cent of total human cases of rabies, is often misdiagnosed, contributing to the under-reporting of the disease.

“This boy, too, was brought to us after being ‘treated’ at other hospitals,” he said, while expressing concern over the lack of post-exposure prophylaxis training of healthcare providers.

According to officials at the hospital, around 1,800 dog bite cases have been reported at the facility this year so far.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Secretary Sindh Asif Hyder Shah presided over a meeting to review and strengthen the Rabies Control Programme (RCP) with a focus on expanding treatment coverage, upgrading facilities, ensuring availability of medicines and enhancing public awareness.

The meeting decided that rabies treatment facilities would be made available at intervals of approximately 10 to 15 kilometres throughout the province.

The chief secretary directed that all rabies centres be fully equipped with anti-rabies vaccines, essential medicines and trained human resources to ensure uninterrupted and standardised treatment services.

Emphasising infrastructure readiness, he ordered that a comprehensive building audit of all 300 rabies centres be completed within 48 hours. Following the audit, necessary rehabilitation, repair work, upgrading and provision of medical equipment would be carried out on a priority basis to make the centres fully functional.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2026