"Thought He Was Safe Without Wounds"... 11-Year-Old Canadian Boy Dies of Rabies After Bat Encounter

Death case reported in Canada in 2024

Rabies confirmed after repeated misdiagnosis... Died 17 days later

A case has been reported in Canada in which an 11-year-old boy died from rabies after a bat touched his face while he was sleeping.

According to CNN on July 1 (local time), the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) released a report detailing the case of an 11-year-old boy who died of rabies in 2024 after visiting a cottage in northern Ontario, Canada.

No visible bite marks... Symptoms appeared 19 days later

According to the report, the boy woke up startled after discovering a bat sitting on his nose and mouth while he was sleeping, and he brushed the bat off his face. The boy’s father caught the bat in a pot and released it outside.

There were no visible bite marks on the boy’s body, and the bat did not exhibit any abnormal behavior, so the family did not seek medical attention. However, 19 days after the incident, the boy began to experience numbness and abnormal sensations on the right side of his face, followed by swelling and a loss of appetite.

Bat. Pixabay

Four days after the onset of symptoms, a local urgent care clinic diagnosed him with facial nerve palsy caused by the herpes virus and prescribed antiviral medication.

Three days later, he developed difficulty swallowing and vomiting and visited an emergency room at a city hospital in Ontario. Examination revealed ulcers on his gums, and mild abnormalities in the nerves responsible for sensation and chewing on the right side of his face. During this process, the family informed the medical staff about the previous contact with the bat, and the following day, an emergency medicine doctor reported the case to the local health authorities.

However, the hospital presumed herpes stomatitis and sent the boy home. The next morning, he returned to the hospital with right-sided facial paralysis, loss of sensation, and speech difficulties. While waiting to be admitted, he developed a high fever, swallowing difficulties, confusion, and hallucinations.

That evening, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and the boy was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) on a ventilator. The medical team stated that, after examining him in intensive care, they strongly suspected rabies. On the fourth day of hospitalization, a PCR test confirmed rabies, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency subsequently confirmed that the infection was caused by a bat-derived rabies virus variant.

Died 17 days after rabies diagnosis

The boy ultimately died on the 17th day of hospitalization. Rabies is a virus that attacks the central nervous system of humans and other mammals, and it is known that most people die after symptoms appear. Infection can occur not only from being bitten or scratched by an infected animal, but also if saliva or other bodily fluids enter the eyes, nose, mouth, or wounds.

Thousands of animal rabies cases are confirmed in Canada every year, but human infections are extremely rare. Since 1924, there have been only 28 confirmed human rabies cases, and according to the medical team, this is the first community-acquired rabies case confirmed in Ontario.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Pixabay

Rabies can also be transmitted by bats, skunks, and foxes... No cure once symptoms appear

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies claims tens of thousands of lives each year in more than 150 countries worldwide, and about 40% of victims are children under the age of 15. While 99% of human rabies cases are caused by dogs, in the Americas, dog-mediated transmission is mostly under control, so bats are considered the main source of infection. In Canada, skunks and foxes are also significant vectors.

The incubation period for rabies is generally 20 to 60 days after exposure, but symptoms can appear sooner or later. Early symptoms are similar to the flu and include fever, headache, and fatigue, which may progress to swallowing difficulties, excessive salivation, muscle spasms, seizures, confusion, anxiety, hydrophobia, and abnormal behavior.

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association emphasized that if bitten or scratched by an animal, the wound should be thoroughly washed with soap and water for 15 minutes and disinfected, and medical attention should be sought immediately. If post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), including vaccine and immunoglobulin, is administered before symptoms appear, infection can be prevented. However, once symptoms develop, there is no proven effective treatment, and most patients die within 7 to 14 days after symptom onset.

The medical team who wrote the report stated, "Bats may or may not display the typical symptoms of rabies," emphasizing, "Therefore, any direct contact between humans and bats should be considered a high-risk situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.