Indian tourists’ interaction with a pet tiger in Pattaya, Thailand, nearly cost a five-year-old girl her life.
The girl was treated at a hospital in Thailand initially. However, she developed rashes on her thighs, face, and torso within two weeks of arriving in India, followed by high-grade fever and worsening health. Her condition deteriorated on the fifth day when she developed a bacterial respiratory infection. “Big cat bites and scratches transmit rare oral bacteria like Pasteurella multocida, Capnocytophaga species and Neisseria weaveri. These microbes live in the saliva of large felines and can cause rapid infections in humans. Doctors advised that all animal bites and scratches, even minor ones, should be thoroughly washed with soap and water and promptly assessed by a medical professional. The doctor added that the same precaution should be taken for scratches from stray dogs, cats and monkeys.
She was admitted to Max Hospital in Vaishali in Delhi on July 10 with fever, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, dangerously low blood pressure, high heart rate and respiratory complications, according to the report. She was discharged from the hospital after 13 days without any neurological deficits.
Dr Priyanka Sinha, from the hospital’s paediatrics and immunology department, said the girl needed broad-spectrum antibiotics, four to five days of ventilator support and intensive cardiovascular care. Principal director of paediatrics at the hospital, Dr Ramalingam Kalyan later said the girl’s inflammatory markers gradually improved, and she was removed from the ventilator to high-flow oxygen by the seventh day. They can, rarely, also cause progressive systemic infection and septic shock,” Dr Sinha said.
