Human rabies survivors in India: an emerging paradox?

On a particularly hot afternoon early last year, a couple—barefoot and in tattered clothes—walked into the emergency services at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), a public neurocare hospital in Bangalore, India. The woman held a sick child in her arms and her male companion followed with two more children in tow.

The child was diagnosed to have rabies encephalitis—apparently acquired through a stray dog bite a month prior, for which medical care was not sought. The grim prognosis was conveyed to the parents, who were migrant labourers in the city. The child died within two hours of admission. However, there was nobody to claim the mortal remains of the young child; the parents had discreetly left the hospital premises and they could not be traced. The body lay in the mortuary, unclaimed for several weeks before it was cremated by the police.