US had 5 rabies deaths last year, highest total in a decade
ABC News
Health officials say five Americans died of rabies last year — the largest number in a decade
NEW YORK -- Five Americans died of rabies last year — the largest number in a decade — and health officials said Thursday that some of the people didn't realize they had been infected or refused life-saving shots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on three of the deaths, all stemming from contact with bats. CDC officials said the deaths were tragic and could have been prevented.
One, an 80-year-old Illinois man, refused to take life-saving shots because of a longstanding fear of vaccines. An Idaho man and a Texas boy did not get shots because of a belief that no bat bite or scratch broke their skin.
In all three cases, people “either trivialized the exposure (to bats) or they didn't recognize the severity of rabies,” said Ryan Wallace, a CDC rabies expert who co-authored the report.
