KUCHING: A five-year-old boy suspected to have contracted rabies died on Saturday.
State Health Department director Dr Jamilah Hashim in a statement said the child was sick on Oct 13 and was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) on Oct 21, after suffering symptoms of fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and hallucinations.
“Throughout his treatment, his condition worsened and he succumbed to his sickness on Nov 2,” she said.
Dr Jamilah noted that the boy had no history of animal bites. The diagnosis of the case is still pending laboratory test result from the Institute of Medical Research (IMR).
The department would like to remind members of the public, in the event they were bitten by an animal to immediately rinse the wound with running water for at least 15 minutes and seek immediate treatment at clinic or government hospital nearby.
According to sources, the boy from Kampung Mambong, the first child of two siblings, was not bitten by a dog.
They believed he had played with stray dogs in the village and possibly contracted the disease through the body fluid.
His family members did not know that he was taken ill not until he started to show symptoms of the disease.
