19-year-old Kerala student dies of rabies despite taking vaccination

A college student succumbed to rabies infection despite taking the necessary vaccination at Mankara in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Thursday, police said.

The 19-year-old woman, identified as Sreelekshmi, was bitten by her neighbour’s dog and she took all necessary vaccinations as prescribed by the doctors soon after that, the police said quoting her relatives.

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She had reportedly suffered the bite while going to college on May 30. The woman did not show any symptoms in the initial days.

When she had started showing symptoms of rabies infection a few days ago, she was first rushed to a private hospital here and then to Thrissur Government Medical College with high fever. She died at the hospital early Thursday (June 30).

Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George directed the state Health Director to carry out a probe and submit a report on the incident.

A detailed probe would be carried out after forming a rapid response team under the district surveillance officer here, an official statement said.