Veronicah M. Chuchu

A woman holds unused pills as WHO raises concerns over rising cases of drug resistance. [Getty Images] Every parent in Kenya knows the fear of a sick child. A fever that won’t go down. A cough that worsens. A sudden hospital admission. In those moments, we trust that medicine, especially antibiotics, will work for those bacterial infections. But what happens when they don’t? Antibiotics are medicines used to treat bacterial infections. However, when bacteria become resistant, these drugs stop working.

1. Introduction Rabies, a fatal viral disease transmitted to humans mainly by domestic dogs, is a neglected zoonosis that primarily affects underserved populations that have limited access to healthcare. Every year, rabies is estimated to kill 59,000 people globally, mostly children 15 years and below in Africa and Asia [1,2], despite the development of effective vaccines against rabies in humans, and in dogs [3].