It is being reported that the girl’s mother allegedly used home remedies instead of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV).

Dog Attack: In yet another incident of death by a dog bite, an 8-year-old girl in Agra succumbed to the injuries two weeks after she was bitten by a stray dog in the city. The girl died on Saturday, an official said on Tuesday. It is being reported that the girl’s mother allegedly used home remedies instead of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV). Dr Jitendra Verma, head of the community health centre (CHC), Bah block, told PTI the girl was brought to the centre at the last time and the family initially ignored the advice to take her to SN Medical College in Agra for treatment. The girl died on the way while being taken to SN Medical College when her condition deteriorated.

“The girl was bitten by a stray dog about 10-15 days ago. She did not inform about the incident to anyone in her family except her mother. Her mother applied home remedies, but when the girl’s condition deteriorated, they brought her to the CHC on Saturday,” he added.

The girl belonged to Bah block’s Chausangi village and her father Dharmendra Singh works as a labourer, and her mother is a housewife.

Dr Verma said, “After the dog-bite, the first dose of ARV should be given to the victim within 24 hours. After that, another dose should be given on the third day and thereafter on the seventh day. The last dose should be given on the 28th day.”

“The symptoms of dog-bites are hydrophobia (fear of water), pain in the neck and vomiting,” he added.

In a similar case, the Executive Director (ED) of the Wagh Bakri Tea Group, Parag Desai, died after he was attacked by street dogs outside his house in Ahmedabad on October 15. Desai was injured severely when he was trying to fend off street dogs.

Parag Desai was undergoing treatment after being attacked by stray dogs but he died due to a brain haemorrhage on October 22.

Every year almost 59 thousand people are killed by dog attacks. Officially, India has over 60 million stray dogs, says a Lancet report. According to the data released by the Indian government, between 2019 to 2022, India reported over 1.5 crore cases of dog bites.