HYDERABAD: A six-year-old boy from Badin has died of rabies at Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) despite having been given rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) and anti-rabies vaccine, bringing the number of rabies deaths in Sindh to 43 so far.

The boy, Bilal, son of Amjad Rajput, died on Oct 24 at the LUH’s city branch, according to the health department. He was first taken to the Indus Hospital in Badin, from where he was discharged.

About a fortnight later, he was brought to the LUH City branch.

According to Dr Ershad Kazmi, LUH’s medical superintendent, focal person for dog-rabies cases and head of the hospital’s rabies prevention centre, Bilal was bitten by a dog on Sept 29 in Goth Bachal Balan. The dog bit seven other people before residents killed it.

Dr Kazmi said the boy had been given a single dose of RIG and, reportedly, three doses of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) at a hospital in Golarchi.

He was brought to the LUH complaining of hydrophobia, aerophobia, and irritability and gasping for one to three days, as well as fever for three days and an inability to drink water. On arrival he was critically ill and unstable, with gasping respiration, tachypnoea, irritability, pallor, prolonged capillary refill time and weak peripheral pulses.

Despite resuscitation and critical care, he remained critically ill, with gasping respiration and poor central pulses. He did not respond to oxygen support, fluid boluses and inotropic support, and died the same day.

On the directives of Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, four doctors have been suspended and explanations sought from the heads of seven health facilities in the province over deaths in cases where victims had received ARV and RIG.

The health department is now monitoring every rabies death under a tracking system to identify lapses, and the suspensions were ordered as a result of it.

The latest death raises questions about vaccine quality (cold-chain efficacy) and the training of staff managing post-exposure treatment. Four rabies-related deaths, those of Mateen, Rayan, Abiha and Inam, have been reported in Hyderabad this year, according to District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Pir Ghulam Hussain. He said that although Bilal was from Badin, his case history was also being compiled in Hyderabad because he had died at the LUH.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026