5-year-old Vietnamese boy suffers serious facial injuries after dog attack at home

Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, confirmed on Tuesday the hospital had treated H.T.K. for multiple facial injuries caused by a dog bite.

The incident occurred as K. was playing with other children in a yard.

He reached into a cabinet without realizing a dog was sleeping inside.

Startled, the dog attacked, biting his right eye and cheek and causing heavy bleeding.

When the boy arrived at the hospital, he was conscious and stable, but had around 10 deep and complicated wounds on the right side of his face.

The largest wound measured 5x3 centimeters and included a tear near the lower eyelid.

Doctors immediately administered first aid, stopped the bleeding, and injected rabies immune globulin around the wound to neutralize the virus and prevent it from reaching the central nervous system.

The boy also received a rabies vaccine, tetanus antitoxin, antibiotics, pain relief, and wound care.

His facial injuries were closed with approximately 20 stitches.

After four days of treatment, his condition has improved and he is continuing the rabies vaccination schedule.

Tien urged parents to teach children not to tease or disturb dogs, especially when they are sleeping.

He also stressed that any dog bite, no matter how minor, requires medical attention to prevent potentially life-threatening infections.

Several other provinces have reported deadly dog attacks among children in recent months.

On Monday, the Center for Disease Control in Dak Lak Province confirmed that a 13-year-old boy from Ea Khal Commune had died of suspected rabies after suffering multiple dog bites and not receiving any post-exposure vaccinations.

In early May, the Center for Disease Control in Gia Lai Province said that a three-year-old child had died of rabies after being bitten by a stray dog and not receiving post-exposure treatment.