KARACHI: The city saw two deaths from rabies on Tuesday, raising the total number of mortalities from the deadly viral disease to six in the province.

The dog-bite victims — 75-year-old Naimat Gul hailing from Lyari and 10-year-old Lata from Mirpurkhas — had been admitted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and the Indus Hospital on Monday.

“The Lyari resident was brought to the hospital’s emergency department where he passed away within 24 hours of his admission,” said JPMC Deputy Director Dr Yahya Tunio.

In another case, a girl brought from Digri, Mirpurkhas to the Indus Hospital on Monday night with advanced stage rabies also passed away within 24 hours of her admission.

Family sources shared that Lata, the third youngest of the six siblings, suffered a dog-bite injury over two months ago. Her parents didn’t seek treatment as they were unaware that the dog bite was a medical emergency and prompt medical attention was crucial to minimise the risk of rabies’ transmission.

Number of fatalities from deadly disease in Sindh climbs to six

“She was reportedly bitten by a puppy on the face over two months ago. Unfortunately, the family didn’t seek any medical care after the injury,” said Aftab Gohar, Manager Rabies Prevention and Training Centre at the Indus Hospital.

He added that the victim developed rabies four days back. “Initially, she developed fever and altered mental status that fast progressed to hydrophobia and aerophobia by the time she was brought to the hospital.”

Mr Gohar regretted that people generally did not take puppy’s bite seriously and that even seemingly minor bites could pose significant health risk.

“I think it’s the third rabies case involving a puppy that I have seen in my experience. It’s painful to see people especially children dying from a disease that’s easily preventable with prompt exposure prophylaxis (PEP) by stopping the virus from reaching the central nervous system,” he said.

PEP, he pointed out, consisted of thorough wound washing, administration of a course of human rabies vaccine and, when indicated, rabies immunoglobulins (RIG). “People should know what to do and where to go if they are bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal.”

So far, this year, the Indus Hospital has seen over 3,000 dog bite cases and four rabies cases.

Two rabies cases have been reported at JPMC, where a 75-year-old man was brought with full blown rabies a day earlier.

Last year, 22 people lost their lives to rabies. Over 41,000 dog-bite cases were reported at three tertiary care hospitals: over 16,000 at the Indus Hospital, over 12,000 at JPMC and over 13,000 at the Civil Hospital Karachi.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2026