As we reported on Thursday, a man from Alcoy was hospitalised due to being infected with rabies. The man, who was bitten by a dog in Africa has since died. The animal bit him while on a trip a year ago, but he ignored it, cleansed the wound with soap and water, and did not seek medical assistance when he returned to Spain, according to reports.
The dead man, originally from Alcoy, lived in Agres, a small hamlet in the Alicante mountains. He was well-known for running the Barxeta restaurant, according to the town’s mayor, MarÃa GarcÃa.
A harsh blow
“He’s had terrible luck. “It’s a devastating blow to the family and the entire town; we all know each other here,” the mayor said. Calls to the bar’s phone are answered by an answering machine, which states that it is closed due to illness.
The man had been in “very serious” condition for several days as a result of acute illness symptoms. The patient was initially admitted to Virgen los Lirios Hospital’s ICU before being transported to La Fe Hospital in Valencia, despite the original plan to transfer him to Hospital ClÃnico.
His spouse and son were vaccinated when he was admitted to the hospital, but they are not isolated because the condition is not considered contagious among individuals, according to health officials.
The 44-year-old patient stayed isolated at the Valencian hospital’s intensive care unit after being diagnosed with rabies following a dog bite while on a trip to Ethiopia in July 2024.
I wasn’t vaccinated
The deceased, who had not been inoculated against the disease, was bitten by a dog in July 2024, and the National Microbiology Centre verified positive laboratory testing for rabies on May 29. The Valencian public health department suspected him of having rabies on May 26th, after he sought medical assistance. His condition worsened around 20 days ago.
Health Minister Marciano Gómez noted that the patient, who received rabies immunoglobulin during his hospital stay, was an “exceptional” case and was in “very serious condition.”
Unusual cases
According to the Carlos III Health Institute, incidents like the one involving the tourist from Alcoy are uncommon in Spain, where only two additional cases of human rabies have been confirmed since 2000, both imported from Morocco: one in Madrid in 2014 and another in the Basque Country in 2019. Both also perished.
Rabies free
Spain has been rabies-free since 1978, while cases have occurred in animals in Ceuta and Melilla, and very infrequently in humans, all of which were imported. According to the institute, mass migration or travel to endemic nations without taking the appropriate safeguards is the most serious concern today.
After sending a “message of calm,” the Health Minister explained that rabies “is transmitted exclusively through bites and, exceptionally, through drops of saliva, conjunctival or buccal ulcers,” and that protective measures “are basic for healthcare professionals, not for those accompanying them; that is, gloves and a mask.”
Health authorities encourage travellers to be vaccinated
Gómez emphasised that rabies “has been eradicated in Spain; dogs are no longer endemic” and used the occasion to urge individuals who planned to travel to get vaccinated against yellow fever, typhoid, and hepatitis.
“Those who will be in contact with animals, like cavers, bats, or animal caretakers, like gorillas, should get rabies shots. If they are bitten by an animal in a less developed country, they should see a doctor.”
unfavourable expectations
According to Julio Muñoz, a member of the Valencian Society of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, people with rabies do not have a good outlook. The disease’s incubation period is astonishing, given that the deceased guy was bitten by a dog 11 months earlier.
According to Muñoz, this phase typically lasts between one and three months, however there have been documented examples spanning from four days to several years.
No Comment! Be the first one.