Eyelid laceration sustained in an attack by a rabid desert fox

PURPOSE/METHODS: Two patients were bitten on the face by a rabid desert fox and sustained eyelid lacerations. The patients were examined and they received the same prophylactic treatment: human rabies immunoglobulin, intramuscularly and at the laceration site, and rabies human-diploid cell vaccine. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: One patient survived; the other died. Eyelid laceration sustained by a bite of a rabid animal is a life-threatening condition; patients should receive prompt rabies prophylaxis.