Posted on 01/15/2018 3:03:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
6-year-old Ryker Roque passed away in an Orlando hospital, his father said Monday
A 6-year-old Florida boy who was undergoing experimental treatment after being diagnosed with rabies has died.
Ryker Roque passed away in an Orlando hospital, his father said Monday.
Roque had been undergoing the treatment, called the Milwaukee protocol, after he was scratched by a bat. His father, Henry Roque, had found the sick bat and put it in a bucket, telling his son not to touch it.
"So, apparently he put his hand in there and touched it and he said it only scratched him, so I frantically googled it real quick and it says to wash his hands with soap, hot water for five minutes," Henry Roque told NBC News.
When Ryker complained of numb fingers and a headache a week later, he was rushed to the hospital. Ryker was put into a medically induced coma, forcing his body to create its own specialized antibodies to fight off the illness.
The treatment has only worked twice in the U.S. and 18 times around the world.
Very sad.
Minor point—I thought that rabies had a long incubation period. The poor kid was affected in a week.
I wonder why this kid was not administered the RPEP.
There has never been a recovery without it (to my knowledge).
I was thinking the same thing.
Why didn’t the dad take the bat to Animal Control to get it checked?
Why didn’t the dad just call his doctor and tell her what happened?
Take your child to the hospital and get the shots! (Yes, I’ve had to go through the series)
What article said to treat a possible rabies exposure with soap and water for five minutes?
Tragic. The boy didn’t want to get the shots. His parents were “kind” to him because they wanted to spare him the pain, so they didn’t insist on him getting the shots.
It reads as though Dad only used the google treatment and didn’t take his son to immediate medical care.
If you tell a 6 year old “don’t do this,” what do you expect him to do?
Poor family.
The little boy was upset at the idea of getting shots, so the parents decided it wasn't necessary.
I'm serious.
I did some online research into rabies. The virus can take from one to three weeks to show symptoms in your body. Depends on where the point of entry is. If it’s on the hand, it takes less time for the virus to reach the brain than if it’s on the leg, as in a dog bite on the leg.
How sad. At least he was unconscious and didn’t suffer from the symptoms before he died.
From another article, it seems that the dad didn’t take the kid in for treatment until he had symptoms.
This sounds like child abuse...or gross negligence.
That kid should have been taken to the emergency room PDQ. Just handling a rabid animal without protection is reason enough.
Standard protocol for possible exposure to a rabid bat is to start human rabies vaccination immediately!
from the CDC:
A person who is exposed and has never been vaccinated against rabies should get 4 doses of rabies vaccine - one dose right away, and additional doses on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th days. They should also get another shot called Rabies Immune Globulin at the same time as the first dose.
Earlier article said child cried about getting shots so father didn’t take him to the doctor when it happened. The article said the Milwaukee Protocol has been used successfully on 18 people worldwide and 2 were teens.
[The little boy was upset at the idea of getting shots, so the parents decided it wasn’t necessary.]
They should have been parents instead of appeasing a six year old. Sad
Another kid who didn’t listen to his father and died as a result. Another father who will be second guessing himself for the rest of his life.
The father should have taken the boy for immediate medical treatment at an ER or clinic. The doctor or ER would have reported it immediately to Public Health and started immediate rabies shots. That is standard procedure in cases where there’s any possibility of contact with a rabid animal or even an animal that, say, bit you but the animal can’t be located for rabies testing.
I had my treatment when bitten by a dying kitten I didn't know. Kissed the little guy as he was dying and he still had enough strength to bite me on the lip.
I went through the protocol just in case.
Insurance covered it.
But if insurance hadn't covered it, it was quite expensive.
As I recall, it was $12K+.
There would be no reason to have the bat checked. In Florida it is automatically assumed that bats are rabid and the protocol for exposure to rabies should be followed if you are bitten or scratched by one.
I have no idea why the dad did not seek immediate medical care. I do know that he must have gone on some holistic or naturapath(sp) site if he came across advice to just wash with soap and water for 5 minutes following exposure to a possibly rabid bat. I am appalled.
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