Dog bite: ministry demands report on boy's (13) death

MBABANE – The Ministry of Health is waiting on a report from nurses at Pigg’s Peak based government hospital after they allegedly turned back a 13-year old boy after he was bitten by a stray rabid dog.

Principal Secretary in the ministry Dr Steven Shongwe said government was worried that nurses instead of saving the boy’s life opted to turn him back for something that was not important, a special pass for the dog.
“I was shocked to read about the death of the boy. To us as a ministry we regard lives more importantly. It was shocking that a patient had to die just because he did not have a special dog pass. We have asked the hospital administrator to compile a report on what happened,” said Shongwe.

The boy was bitten by the dog on January 30, this year and he was turned back at the hospital the next day. He started with going to school before he went to hospital. He continued with classes until early this month when he started showing signs of fatigue.  
Grandmother of the boy Esther Dlamini said the boy would be buried tomorrow  after a vigil.
She said her grandson had gone to a neighbour where he was to collect something for her but she got a fright when her boy told that he was bitten by a dog.

Unfortunately for him the dog was not known in the area so it was difficult to get the owner of the dog or get the special pass.
“It was around January when my grandson came back and told me that he was bitten by a stray dog. It was shocking to me when they told me that he could not be treated because he did not have a special pass for the dog.

When last did you hear of dog passes and the nurses could not answer me when I asked them? The conduct of the nurses was surprising to me because there was no way of getting a special pass for the dog,” said Dlamini.
She said investigations uncovered that the dog was not from around the area. Dlamini said she never knew that the dog was rabid because if she had known she would have taken her grandson to another hospital.

“Seeing that his condition was not improving, I then went to notify rural motivators who called an ambulance and it came to fetch us. We went together to go and see a doctor in Pigg’s Peak. Upon arrival in hospital he was admitted and later that afternoon on April 5, he died,” said Dlamini. Last Friday vet officers and officials from Pigg’s Peak called the family to hospital so that they could be vaccinated against rabies. She said funeral arrangements were ongoing. Funeral details will be released in the course of next week.    

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