A seemingly minor tiger scratch during a tourist photo opportunity in Pattaya, Thailand, was followed by severe sepsis in a 5-year-old Indian girl, highlighting the potential infectious complications of injuries from large felines. The girl sustained the scratch in mid-June while visiting a tiger park in Pattaya and received initial treatment at a hospital in Thailand. Within two weeks of returning to India, she developed extensive rashes involving the thighs, face and torso, followed by high-grade fever and progressive clinical deterioration.

She was admitted to Max Hospital, Vaishali, on July 10 with vomiting, severe abdominal pain, hypotension, tachycardia and respiratory complications. According to Dr Priyanka Sinha from the hospital's pediatrics and immunology department, the child required broad-spectrum antibiotics, mechanical ventilation for four to five days and intensive…