An eight-year-old boy has died from rabies at the Badin campus of Indus Hospital, taking the total number of recorded rabies deaths in Sindh this year to 19.
According to hospital officials, the child was admitted to Dr. Sikandar Ali Mandhro Civil Hospital in Badin on Sunday with advanced rabies symptoms, including hydrophobia, aerophobia, and altered behavior.
Doctors provided palliative care after informing the family that rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms develop.
Aftab Gohar, Technical Lead of Rabies Prevention and Management Services at the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN), said the child had either been bitten by a puppy or exposed to the saliva of an infected animal. Both are classified as Category III, or high-risk, exposures under World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
He added that the child could not be taken to a designated anti-rabies treatment center in time.
The latest case is the first rabies death reported at the Badin facility. Overall, 12 rabies deaths have now been recorded at Indus Hospital’s Korangi and Badin campuses in 2026, while six cases have been reported at Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Another case was recently recorded in Tando Allahyar, bringing the province’s total to 19.
Health officials said efforts to expand anti-rabies services across Sindh are continuing through collaboration between the government and IHHN. These include establishing more anti-rabies centers, training healthcare workers.
Experts stressed that rabies is entirely preventable if victims receive prompt post-exposure treatment after an animal bite.
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