A boy 12 years of age died this morning [25 Dec 2008] in Brasilia, confirming the suspicion of rabies. The boy had cardio-respiratory arrest and did not respond to attempts at resuscitation. The child lived in Sao Domingo, in northern Goias, where he had contracted the disease, and was taken to the Hospital de Base in Brasilia for medical treatment.
The boy played with a bat when he was bitten in the foot. He was hospitalized a month ago and [treatment of his case] was advised by a doctor of the United States via videoconference. The boy's [treatment] was carried out according to a method developed recently using antivirals and inducing a coma in the patient.
The Secretary of Health Surveillance, Disney Antezana, reminds [the public] that rabies can be contracted in both urban as well as rural settings.
Communicated by: ProMED-mail <
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[This case appears to be the same one reported in ProMED archive no. 20081224.4057, although the reported ages of the patient vary (9 years previously versus 12 years in this report). The previous report indicated that the child was put into a medically-induced coma, with treatment according to the Wisconsin protocol. Unfortunately, the child did not survive after 3 weeks of hospitalization. When admitted to hospital, his condition was serious, and there is no indication of how many days had elapsed from the time of 1st exposure to the development of symptoms and hospitalization.
