Citation

MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 1960; 9(31): 2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1960, (in public domain), Publisher U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dr. L. E. Starr, Georgia Department of Public Health, has sent a delayed report on a case of human rabies in a 9-year-old boy. The patient was 1 of 7 children and 1 adult bitten by 1 of 2 dogs running amuck in the City of Atlanta on March 24. The boy was severely bitten on the lip, nose, left elbow, and lower back. A few hours after exposure he was given 2,000 units of antirabic, hyperimmune serum, and the day following he was started on antirabic vaccine. The dog identified by the parents of the boy as the biting animal was confined for about 2 weeks in a dog pound. The dog remained normal during this time and then was destroyed. Because of the normal behavior of the dog, vaccination was discontinued after the 7th dose.

Initial symptoms were first noted on May 19 and death occurred 2 days later. At autopsy the brain was found to be Negri-positive, and the diagnosis of rabies was confirmed by mouse inoculation. The fluorescent antibody test was also found to be positive for rabies. It is stated that there obviously had been confusion In the identity of the biting animal by the par­ents and children.

This is the first reported case of human rabies for the United States in 1960. Three had been reported for the same period in 1959.

Language: en