KARACHI: An eight-year-old boy has recently died of rabies at the Badin campus of Indus Hospital, officially known as Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro Civil Hospital, raising the total recorded deaths from the deadly infectious disease to 19, it emerged on Tuesday.

An informed source said it’s the first rabies case at the facility. A total of 17 cases have so far been reported this year at two key tertiary care hospitals; 11 at the Indus Hospital, Korangi campus, Karachi and six at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi. A case has recently been reported from Tando Allahyar as well.

Speaking to Dawn, Aftab Gohar, technical lead of the Rabies Prevention & Management Services, Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN), said the deceased boy was brought to the hospital on Sunday with full-blown rabies, exhibiting hydrophobia, aerophobia, and altered behaviour.

“The family was counselled about the invariably fatal prognosis once symptoms appear and the patient was admitted for palliative care,” he said.

“The information gathered from the family indicated that the child was either bitten by a puppy or exposed to the infected animal’s saliva, both classified as Category III (high-risk) exposures under the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines,” Mr Gohar explained, regretting that he couldn’t be taken to a designated anti-rabies centre for treatment.

According to Mr Gohar, it’s the first rabies case reported at Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro Civil Hospital, Badin.

“Overall, 12 rabies deaths have so far been reported at the Indus Hospital Korangi and Badin in 2026, while three additional cases from rural Sindh and Balochistan have been discussed through professional consultations. The case of rural Sindh was from Tando Allahyar’s hospital. We made the case part of our record.”

Describing government efforts being taken in collaboration with IHHN for rabies prevention and control as encouraging, he said that significant progress had been made through establishment of expanded anti-rabies centres.

Under the partnership, he pointed out, healthcare workers had been trained while improved availability of anti-rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin was being ensured.

“Enhanced surveillance and increased public awareness are improving timely access to lifesaving care,” he said, emphasising that continued collaboration among government, healthcare providers, and communities remained essential to ensure that every animal-bite victim received the WHO-recommended treatment and that no life was lost to this entirely preventable disease.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026