In a tragic turn of event, a 30-year-old bank employee in Maharashtra’s Kalyan died by suicide on Sunday, reportedly due to an overwhelming fear of contracting rabies after a stray dog bite. According to the reports, the man, identified as Ayas Vishwanath Amin, lived with his family in the Tisgaon Naka area of Kalyan East. He had been working at the Thane branch of Bharat Bank for the past eight years.
Ayas was bitten by a stray dog a few days ago. While he had reportedly begun the anti-rabies vaccination process, his family noted that he had recently started showing signs of extreme anxiety and symptoms he believed were linked to the virus. A suicide note recovered from the scene explicitly mentioned this fear as the reason for his decision.
According to the media reports, family members informed the police that Amin had taken only one anti-rabies injection after being bitten by a stray dog a few days ago, but they noticed unusual changes in his behaviour and increasing anxiety about his health.
Symptoms of Rabies
The incubation period for rabies is typically 2–3 months but may vary from one week to one year, depending on factors such as the location of virus entry and the viral load. Initial symptoms of rabies include generic signs like fever, pain and unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking, or burning sensations at the wound site. As the virus moves to the central nervous system, progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops. Clinical rabies in people can be managed but very rarely cured, and not without severe neurological deficits.
There are two forms of rabies:
- Furious rabies results in hyperactivity, excitable behaviour, hallucinations, lack of coordination, hydrophobia (fear of water) and aerophobia (fear of drafts or of fresh air). Death occurs after a few days due to cardio-respiratory arrest.
- Paralytic rabies accounts for about 20% of the total number of human cases. This form of rabies runs a less dramatic and usually longer course than the furious form. Muscles gradually become paralysed, starting from the wound site. A coma slowly develops and eventually death occurs. The paralytic form of rabies is often misdiagnosed, contributing to the under-reporting of the disease.
Rabies Vaccine: What To Know
For people who have never been vaccinated against rabies, PEP should always include the administration of HRIG and rabies vaccine. The combination of HRIG and vaccine is recommended for both bite and non-bite exposures, regardless of the interval between exposure and initiation of treatment, so long as the patient is not showing signs consistent with rabies.
For people who have previously been vaccinated against rabies, PEP consists of two doses of vaccine three days apart.
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