Pune, Feb. 7 -- A 33-year-old man from Daund taluka died of rabies on Wednesday night while undergoing treatment at Naidu Infectious Diseases Hospital, Baner. He succumbed to the infection nearly three months after he was bitten by a stray dog, despite taking anti-rabies vaccines and receiving immunoglobulin doses, said the officials on Friday. The deceased, Mahesh Rajendra Nagwade, was an accountant at the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank in Dahitane, Daund, 40-kilometers away from Pune. According to health officials, Nagwade was bitten by a stray dog on the evening of November 6, 2025, near his home in Khamgaon. The bite caused a 6-cm lacerated wound on the backside of his right leg near the knee. He initially took treatment at Yavat Rural Hospital, where he received a tetanus injection on the same day. On the same day, he was later taken to Sassoon General Hospital, Pune, where he was administered the first dose of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and anti-rabies serum (ARS). However, officials said it could not be confirmed whether the full course of vaccination was completed. Furthermore, Nagwade remained stable for several weeks. But on February 3, 2026, he developed classic symptoms of rabies, including fear of water (hydrophobia) and fear of air (aerophobia). He was rushed to Yavat Rural Hospital and was then referred to Sassoon General Hospital before being admitted to Naidu Hospital, Baner, around 11 pm the same night. Despite intensive supportive care, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he succumbed to the infection on February 4 at 11 pm, doctors said. Confirming the death, Dr Sudhir Patsute, infectious diseases expert and head of Naidu Hospital, said, "In dog bites, the wound must be washed immediately with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes. This should be followed by administration of the anti-rabies vaccine and serum in grade II and above category bites. Failure to do so allows the rabies virus to enter the body, which often results in a painful and fatal outcome," he said. According to doctors, post-exposure treatment involves administering 0.1 ml of rabies vaccine intradermally at two sites on days 0 (the day of the bite), 3, 7, and 28, along with anti-rabies immunoglobulin applied to the wound depending on the person's weight. Health officials have urged the public not to neglect animal bites. Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system and can be prevented through vaccination, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Rabies is generally not curable once symptoms appear and is almost always fatal in humans once symptoms appear. It typically has an incubation period of two to three months, though it can range from as little as a week to up to a year. This depends on factors like the site of infection and the amount of virus introduced....