Father Sucks Rabies-Infected Blood from Dog-Bitten Son, Dies
by Fauna on Wednesday, September 25, 2013
by Fauna on Wednesday, September 25, 2013
From NetEase:
Father Uses Mouth to Suck Poisonous Blood Out of Dog-Bitten Son, Dies from Rabies 1 Month Later
A month ago, after seeing his son’s leg bitten by a stray dog, a 41-year-old Jiang X desperate to save his son used his mouth to suck and spit out the blood from the wound multiple times. His son was timely injected with a rabies vaccine while Jiang X abstained and was not injected with rabies vaccine. Two days ago, Jiang X felt unwell and was diagnosed with rabies by the hospital. On the early morning of the 24th, Jiang X died despite medical care.
A. Rescue
Son bitten by dog, father sucked out seven or eight mouthfuls of “poisoned blood”
According to villagers, Jiang X was 41 years old this year, from Sihong county, Qingyang town, Chonggang community. Early morning on August 19th, Jiang X’s not-yet-20-year-old son Young Jiang was outside the door cleaning when a small, dirty, inconspicuous-looking yellow stray dog came up to Young Jiang. Young Jiang paid it no mind nor did he shoo the stray dog away but instead continued cleaning.
Suddenly, this small inconspicuous stray dog bit the Young Jiang’s left calf before turning and running away. “Ai you! I was bitten! Someone help!” shouted Young Jiang as he covered the wound on his leg from the dog bite. Upon hearing his son yell from inside, Jiang X ran out to his son. Neighbors too rushed over one by one, who then pursued the stray dog in the direction it had run, and eventually beat the man-biting little dog to death.
Seeing his son moan in pain, Jiang X was distraught. Desperate to save his son, he hastily got hot water with the help of family and neighbors to rinse his son’s wound. Then, Jiang X did something shocking, squatting down to use his mouth to suck on his son’s wound, sucking out the “poisonous blood” inside before spitting it onto the ground. He sucked and spat seven to eight mouthfuls of “poisoned blood” before he felt more at ease. Then, Jiang X took his son to the nearest hospital where a doctor attended to the wound and timely injected a “rabies vaccine”, about one hour after Young Jiang had been bitten.
However, Jiang X himself did not get a “rabies vaccine” injection. Jiang X even said to neighbors: “Getting a ‘rabies vaccine’ shot for my son is enough. A ‘rabies vaccine’ shot for me would require more money and I’d have to get several shots, avoid eating this or that so I won’t get vaccinated, because what are the chances that I’ll be infected without getting vaccinated?”
B. Onset
Over a month later, father smashes ambulance after onset of rabies
Two days ago, Jiang X felt unwell. Upon suspecting ‘rabies’ from his symptoms, the local hospital urged his relatives to take him to the provincial capital’s hospital for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. Jiang X was subsequently diagnosed with “rabies” by a Nanjing hospital. Because this disease cannot be cured, his family could only forgo treatment.
On the night of September 23rd, when the Nanjing hospital had transported him to his home via ambulance, Jiang X suddenly lost control and became volatile, breaking multiple glass windows on the ambulance as well as the equipment in the ambulance. It was already around 10pm at night, and after the Sihong county Zhonggang local police station received a 110 call, station chief Wang Yao brought police officer Ye Wenchao and 3 auxiliary officers along in rushing to the scene.
Because people infected with rabies are extremely aggressive and infectious, the police and auxiliary police on the scene had to simultaneously disperse the crowds and work with Jiang X’s family in comforting and persuading him, trying to calm his irritable state of mind. However, Jiang X’s state of mind simply could not be calmed and the surrounding villagers were also exceptionally frightened by the situation they were witnessing. To avoid triggering a panic among the villagers, Wang Yao braved being infected with ‘rabies’, boarded the ambulance, and told the driver to take Jiang X away from the village.
Wang Yao also urgently requested assistance from the head of the Sihong county public security bureau. Soon after, Jiang X was being taken to the infectious diseases department at a Sihong county hospital for medical treatment.
C. Death
Hours after being taken to the hospital, he died under treatment
However, before the ambulance carrying Jiang X had driven very far, Jiang X again became abnormally irritable and agitated. Suddenly, Jiang X had his left arm around his father’s neck while holding a piece of broken glass in his right hand, threatening his father demanding that he be cure him of his disease.
After the ambulance was forced to stop, station chief Wang Yao consoled Jiang X from the back door of the ambulance to divert his attention while several special police team members immediately entered the ambulance through the side door and quickly restrained Jiang X’s arms, legs, and head, simultaneously rescuing the father.
Then, the ambulance carrying Jiang X was escorted to a Sihong country hospital’s infectious diseases department. At 3am in the early morning of the 24th, just a few hours after being taken to the hospital, Jiang X died while being treated.
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Comments from NetEase:
网易甘肃省兰州市网友 ip：118.183.*.*:
A great father. Frankly, the common people are just like this, scrimping and saving whenever they can, so I can really understand this father [and his actions].
Also shows how the country’s healthcare system isn’t sound, or at least vaccines like this should be administered for free.
网易安徽省阜阳市网友 ip：36.62.*.*:Also shows how the country’s healthcare system isn’t sound, or at least vaccines like this should be administered for free.
I’m a rabies outpatient service doctor. There are really too many people with small dogs who don’t keep them in cages, without a controlled pet-raising environment, and there are an especially large number of wild dogs. In the summer when people are wearing less clothes and there are irritable little dogs, there are often people who have been bitten by dogs coming in seeking medical attention. Normal rabies vaccines require 5 shots with a series costing 300-500yuan. A bite from a rabid dog or wild dog requires an injection of rabies immunoglobulin, and for an adult it costs 2000-3000 yuan. An ordinary family will indeed find it a bit costly to pay for. I hope the government can make dog bites covered by [state-provided] healthcare, as this would save even more people’s lives.
kehuachina [网易广东省肇庆市网友]：
I was bitten by a stray dog once in Africa’s Algeria. After immediately disinfecting, I went to the local hospital. Although it’s rather impoverished there, medical care was completely free. I got 4 shots there and didn’t get the last shot because of returning to China though before returning to China, the hospital gave me the last amount of vaccine and needle. At the time, I had discussed this issue with a client and the client had said: “Government is meant to serve the people”, which really left a deep impression on me.
网易江西省南昌市网友 ip：218.65.*.*: (responding to 118.183.*.*)
Free injections is something I extremely support!!!
