19 deaths in five months

Newspapers have been reporting cases of death from rabies caused by dog bite across the country. Small news items have been appearing at random but their frequency has become noticeable.

To get some kind of snapshot, however unscientific but indicative, Civil Society scanned newspapers between August 2025 and February 2026 and found 19 deaths.

This period of seven months was chosen arbitrarily. The number could be higher or lower in other periods. There would be reports we didn’t spot.

 2026 

February 6:

Dahitane, Maharashtra. A 33-year-old man from Daund taluka died of rabies while undergoing treatment at Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital, Baner. He succumbed to the infection nearly three months after he was bitten by a stray dog, despite taking anti-rabies vaccines and receiving immunoglobulin doses.

February 5:

Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. A 22-year-old daily wage labourer, J. Akash, had been reportedly bitten by a dog three months earlier when he received a rabies immunoglobulin injection, but did not complete the full anti-rabies vaccination course.

February 4:

Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. A 48-year-old woman, Kiran Lalwani, was bitten by a dog on January 3. She immediately went to a nearby private clinic and received a tetanus injection. Her family alleges the doctor did not administer the anti-rabies vaccine.

February 1:

Kamareddy, Telangana. A two-and-a-half-year-old girl died within two hours of receiving the third dose of an anti-rabies vaccine at the Government General Hospital in Kamareddy, where she had been taken following a dog bite. After the vaccination, she returned home but soon fell unconscious and was rushed to a private hospital with a weak pulse. She was then taken back to the GGH, where doctors declared her dead.

February 1:

Agra, Uttar Pradesh. A six-year-old boy died three weeks after he was bitten on the head even though he had received two doses of the vaccine. The first dose was administered on the day he was bitten.

January 31:

Palanpur, Gujarat. A 27-year-old labourer was hospitalized with advanced rabies symptoms, after a dog bite nearly three months earlier. Doctors said he had not received any anti-rabies vaccination.

January 30:

Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. A 45-year-old farmer, P. Ekambaram, died of suspected rabies infection at Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital. He had been bitten by a stray dog about three months earlier and  received only a single anti-rabies shot.

January 30:

Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. A 12-year-old boy died nearly three weeks after a dog attack on January 10. Hospital authorities said he received anti-rabies vaccine doses, but deteriorated before completing the full course.

 2025 

December 23:

Arakkonam/Chennai, Tamil Nadu. An 18-year-old youth who had been bitten by a stray dog nearly two years earlier died of rabies at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, authorities said. It wasn’t clear if he had been fully vaccinated or not after the bite.

December 24:

Thane, Maharashtra. A six-year-old girl died more than a month after being bitten by a street dog despite having received four anti-rabies vaccine shots.

December 30:

Bengaluru, Karnataka. A 12-year-old girl died of rabies weeks after a dog bite even though she had received four doses of anti-rabies vaccine; doctors said she was not administered immunoglobulin, which may have contributed to the fatal outcome.

December 9:

Mau, Uttar Pradesh. A 12-year-old boy  died after showing rabies symptoms. It is not known whether he was vaccinated.

November 13:

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. A 21-year-old college student from Erode died of rabies at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital nearly two weeks after being bitten by his pet dog, which was suspected to have been infected by a stray. He had received three doses of anti-rabies vaccine but was not administered immunoglobulin.

November 14:

Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. A 31-year-old man died of rabies after ignoring a dog bite sustained about three months earlier and refusing post-bite treatment.

November 4:

Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh. A six-year-old boy from Kusmara village died, nearly three weeks after being bitten on the neck by a stray dog, despite receiving three doses of the anti-rabies vaccine.

October 18:

Ambarnath, Thane, Maharashtra. A 21-year-old man named Aman Kori died of rabies after being bitten by a stray dog two months earlier and taking only the first dose of the anti-rabies vaccine and hiding the incident from his family.

September 15:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A 47-year-old autorickshaw driver, A. Mohammed Nasarudeen, died of rabies at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital despite having completed four doses of the anti-rabies vaccine. He was bitten by a stray dog in July.

August 19:

Salem, Tamil Nadu. A 48-year-old powerloom worker, M. Kuppuswamy, died of rabies at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital after being bitten by his pet dog about three months earlier. He was not vaccinated.

August 19:

Bengaluru, Karnataka. A four-year-old girl, Khadira Banu (from Davangere), who was attacked by stray dogs in April succumbed to rabies at a hospital in Bengaluru. 

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