4-year-old girl dies from dog bite

A four-year-old girl who was on admission at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital after suffering a dog bite has died.

The little girl from Adanse Swedru was playing with the puppy which she requested for as a birthday gift when the dog bit her on the cheek.

Her father who was away upon his return sent her to a hospital at Adansi Swedru where health officers administered a tetanus injection on her in the absence of anti-rabies prophylaxes which is the main drug for treating rabies cases.

After a fortnight, the child started exhibiting strange behaviour forcing the parents to send her to the Francis Xavier hospital in Assin Fosu. She was later referred to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for further treatment.

After days of examination at the hospital, doctors referred the little girl back to the Assin Fosu hospital for lack of space. She finally died on Monday after she was diagnosed of end stage rabies.

Her death has raised a lot of questions about the knowledge of health officials on the treatment of the disease as even the Adansi Swedru hospital thought that a mere tetanus injection was enough to stop potential rabies infection.

The readiness in providing comfort for such victims is also an issue of concern as the two key hospitals in the central regional capital; the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and Cape Coast Metro Hospital did not have enough space to accommodate the little girl as she had to be referred again to the Assin Fosu hospital where she finally passed on.