NGHỆ AN — Two children have died of rabies in recent weeks in the central province of Nghệ An after suspected dog bites, the provincial obstetrics and paediatrics hospital said on Wednesday.

The two separate cases were admitted to the hospital in a critical situation before passing away, doctors noted.

The first case, L.B.T. (40 months old, Quế Phong District), was hospitalised in late February with respiratory failure, prolonged convulsions, sputum secretion, hydrophobia, and phobias of wind.

The patient was diagnosed with rabies.

The second case, V.Q.H. (nine years old, Tân Kỳ District), was also taken to the emergency room on March 10 with rabies.

Both patients failed to get vaccinated after coming into contact with sick animals.

Doctor Trần Văn Cương, head of the emergency department of the hospital, said that rabies is a dangerous infectious disease that attacks the brain, transmitted from animals to humans mainly through bites, wounds and infected animal's saliva to damaged skin.

The mortality rate of rabies is nearly 100 per cent, and the disease has no specific treatment, so vaccination is still the only and most effective way to prevent rabies for people bitten by dogs.

In 2022, Việt Nam recorded 70 deaths from rabies in 25 cities and provinces, an increase of five deaths compared to 2021. — VNS