10-year-old girl dies after rabies infection

A 10-year-old girl who was being treated for the first confirmed case of rabies in Indiana since 1959 has died.\nShannon Carroll of Bourbon, Ind., died Thursday morning at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis hospital spokeswoman Jo Ann Klooz said.\nCarroll was hospitalized in early October after being bitten in June by a rabid bat, health officials said. More than 30 relatives, friends and classmates of the girl were offered injections to prevent the spread of the disease.\nSome parents whose children attend the girl's school in Bourbon, about 25 miles south of South Bend, worried about possible exposure since rabies can stay dormant for more than a year.\nHuman-to-human transmission of rabies is only possible through direct contact with saliva, health officials said.\nState records show Indiana's last human rabies case was in 1959, when a Sullivan County resident died from the disease.\nRabies is a viral disease transmitted to humans and other animals through saliva, usually in a bite. It attacks the brain and nervous system and typically leads to death once symptoms appear.