Ministry of Health Confirms Rabies Infection in Minors

The result of the test applied to three children who were bitten by a bat in Oaxaca was confirmed as positive for the V3 variant of rabies, which belongs to a species of hematophagous bat, informed the Ministry of Health.

On Dec. 24, 2022, the government of Oaxaca confirmed the death of a boy aged 7 after a bat bit him and his sisters in Palo de Lima, San Lorenzo Texmelucan. While the 8-year-old sister remains hospitalized, the two-year-old girl has been discharged after further observation.

The sample taken from the minor who died was sent to the Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference Institute (InDRE), which confirmed the positive result for rabies, based on the direct immunofluorescence technique and genotyping of the virus of this disease.

Rabies is present throughout the world and there are an estimated 11 variants, from which nine are present in Mexico, said Gabriel García Rodríguez, General Director of Epidemiology, Ministry of Health. The virus can affect cats, dogs, foxes and other animals. Although it has been eradicated in dogs thanks to vaccination, it is still present in wild animals, he added.

Despite the almost zero case record in Mexico over the past 16 years, the seven-year-old child was not the first recent fatality caused by rabies. In April 2021, a 41-year-old man from El Salto, Jalisco, died as a result of the rabies virus transmitted by a hematophagous bat.

Both deaths ended the more than 10-year streak in which Mexico had not registered deaths caused by rabies, an achievement recognized by WHO. In addition, Mexico became the first country in the world to receive WHO validation for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies as a public health problem, according to PAHO.

In the 1990s, amid a growing prevalence of rabies cases in Mexico, the country implemented a national control and elimination strategy, which included free mass vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats. Thanks to this strategy, Mexico went from registering 60 cases of rabies caused by dog bites in 1990 to three in 1999, to finally achieve zero in 2006, according to PAHO.

The first symptoms of rabies are similar to the flu, including weakness, fever and headaches, according to the CDC. Symptoms then progress to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion and agitation. As the disease progresses, the person may experience delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water) and insomnia.

García Rodríguez urged the Mexican population to take care of children and avoid pets’ contact with wild animals. The curiosity of children could lead them to approach wild animals, putting them in risk of being attacked, he added.