Date: Sat 28 Dec 2013
Source: The Times of India [edited]
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...651624_1_rabies-infection-rabies-patients-grh
A 20-year-old youth from Madurai [Tamil Nadu state], infected with rabies virus transmitted from his pet dog, died in a private cell meant for rabies victims at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on Friday [27 Dec 2013]. His relatives, friends and doctors at GRH watched the youth die.
Doctors say a rabies patient cannot be saved. Preventive medicine alone is available and death is sure if [symptoms of infection develop]. In 2013, 8 people admitted to GRH with rabies infection died in the private cell.
The victim had completed class 12 and was working as an earthmover operator. He was bitten by a puppy while staying at his grandfather's house in Palamedu [Tamil Nadu state] a month ago [November 2013]. The son of a farmer, the youth did not take it seriously and did not even tell his family members that the puppy had bit him. Doctors from the GRH said their enquiry revealed that the puppy died recently, due to rabies. [The victim] developed health complications 3 days ago [25 Dec 2013] and was admitted in a private medical college hospital in Madurai. He was shifted to GRH on Friday [27 Dec 2013], when the doctors learnt that he was infected by rabies. GRH doctors say, on an average, 10 to 12 rabies patients are admitted to the hospital every year and they all die within 24 hours of admission.
Doctors say people who get bitten by a dog must seek vaccination [immediately] irrespective of whether the dog was a stray or a pet. If 3 injections are administered in the 1st month, the person will be rabies free. In case of a pet dog, it should also be vaccinated, they say. Ironically, when doctors say there is no treatment for rabies victims who have reached a terminal stage, a professor at Madurai Kamaraj University had claimed that she has invented a cure. The ethical clearance committee at GRH needs to clear her medicine.
T Anitha Sironmani, head and chairperson of department of genetic engineering, MKU, obtained permission from Tamil Nadu government to apply her nanotechnology medicine on rabies patients a while ago. She was allowed to test the medicine with the permission of the patient and after clearance from the ethical clearance committee at GRH. "I approached the ethical clearance committee several times. They would allow the victims to die but would not let me try out the medicine. I have tested my technology on a rabies-infected cow and it worked," Sironmani told TOI [Times of India].
Dr N Mohan, dean, GRH and Madurai Medical College, said the independent (ethical clearance) committee consists of 2 retired professors, senior doctors and a legal expert with me as coordinator. "There are certain procedures to be followed. If she fulfils the requirements, she would be allowed to do the experiment on patients," he said.
[Byline: V Devanathan]
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Unfortunately, the victim's delay in seeking post-exposure treatment made the outcome of this incident inevitable. Under these circumstances it is unfortunate the nanotechnology expert was not given permission to treat the patient with her nanotechnology-based therapy. It could hardly have worsened the patient's condition.
Madurai is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 3rd largest city in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, it has been a major settlement for 2000 years and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai). A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map is available at http://healthmap.org/r/2kP3. - Mod.CP]
http://beta.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20131230.2143331
Source: The Times of India [edited]
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...651624_1_rabies-infection-rabies-patients-grh
A 20-year-old youth from Madurai [Tamil Nadu state], infected with rabies virus transmitted from his pet dog, died in a private cell meant for rabies victims at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on Friday [27 Dec 2013]. His relatives, friends and doctors at GRH watched the youth die.
Doctors say a rabies patient cannot be saved. Preventive medicine alone is available and death is sure if [symptoms of infection develop]. In 2013, 8 people admitted to GRH with rabies infection died in the private cell.
The victim had completed class 12 and was working as an earthmover operator. He was bitten by a puppy while staying at his grandfather's house in Palamedu [Tamil Nadu state] a month ago [November 2013]. The son of a farmer, the youth did not take it seriously and did not even tell his family members that the puppy had bit him. Doctors from the GRH said their enquiry revealed that the puppy died recently, due to rabies. [The victim] developed health complications 3 days ago [25 Dec 2013] and was admitted in a private medical college hospital in Madurai. He was shifted to GRH on Friday [27 Dec 2013], when the doctors learnt that he was infected by rabies. GRH doctors say, on an average, 10 to 12 rabies patients are admitted to the hospital every year and they all die within 24 hours of admission.
Doctors say people who get bitten by a dog must seek vaccination [immediately] irrespective of whether the dog was a stray or a pet. If 3 injections are administered in the 1st month, the person will be rabies free. In case of a pet dog, it should also be vaccinated, they say. Ironically, when doctors say there is no treatment for rabies victims who have reached a terminal stage, a professor at Madurai Kamaraj University had claimed that she has invented a cure. The ethical clearance committee at GRH needs to clear her medicine.
T Anitha Sironmani, head and chairperson of department of genetic engineering, MKU, obtained permission from Tamil Nadu government to apply her nanotechnology medicine on rabies patients a while ago. She was allowed to test the medicine with the permission of the patient and after clearance from the ethical clearance committee at GRH. "I approached the ethical clearance committee several times. They would allow the victims to die but would not let me try out the medicine. I have tested my technology on a rabies-infected cow and it worked," Sironmani told TOI [Times of India].
Dr N Mohan, dean, GRH and Madurai Medical College, said the independent (ethical clearance) committee consists of 2 retired professors, senior doctors and a legal expert with me as coordinator. "There are certain procedures to be followed. If she fulfils the requirements, she would be allowed to do the experiment on patients," he said.
[Byline: V Devanathan]
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Unfortunately, the victim's delay in seeking post-exposure treatment made the outcome of this incident inevitable. Under these circumstances it is unfortunate the nanotechnology expert was not given permission to treat the patient with her nanotechnology-based therapy. It could hardly have worsened the patient's condition.
Madurai is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 3rd largest city in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, it has been a major settlement for 2000 years and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai). A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map is available at http://healthmap.org/r/2kP3. - Mod.CP]
http://beta.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20131230.2143331