CHENNAI: Alan Samuel, 24, a post-graduate student of social work at Madras Christian College , Tambaram, died of rabies early on Friday. He was bitten by a rabid pup on the college campus in November 2013. Alan was a dog lover.

In November 2013, he and his classmates were walking to their department when they came across the pup. He and a classmate played with the pup, which bit them both. Alan and his friend went to general physicians to get treated. “The girl’s physician recommended that she take the anti-rabies vaccine, but Alan’s doctor seems to have said a tetanus toxoid shot would suffice,” said Durai Jasper, public relations officer of CMC Vellore , who confirmed that Alan died at the hospital at 1am on Friday.

A post by MCC’s department of social welfare on a social networking site on February 13 said Alan complained of shoulder pain after two days, and his parents took him to a doctor close to their home. The doctor informed them that Alan was displaying symptoms of advanced stage of rabies and told them to take him to a government hospital.

At GH he was referred to CMC, Vellore. "He hasn't slept the whole night, refused to lie down, just kept sitting and staring at everyone. He's showing aversion to breeze and water. Please pray for a miracle," the post read.

On February 17, an update on the site said doctors at CMC had put him under induced coma and were waiting for his immune system to produce antibodies. Jasper said that as soon as he was diagnosed with rabies, the doctors told his parents that he may not survive. "There are only six known cases of survival across the world. We tried on the patient the Milwaukee protocol, which saved these people in the US, but it didn't help," said Dr George Varghese of CMC. The hospital is treating Samuel's friend who was also bitten, since she had taken only three of the five doses of anti-rabies shots.

The college has a 365-acre campus many parts of which remain unexplored or unfrequented by students and faculty. Students and faculty said the dog population had grown on the campus.

Principal R W Alexander Jesudasan said the management had tried to prevent the dogs from entering the campus by building compound walls at vulnerable areas. "We try to curb the dogs from proliferating without doing ecological damage, but it's always been a problem. We regularly inform the local authorities and the Blue Cross who try to catch the dogs to prevent the population from growing. But, the moment the dogs sense this, they hide in the bushes. It's not possible for the authorities to camp here for days to catch them," Jesudasan said.

He said the authorities have recommended that all students take the anti-rabies vaccine. to be on the safe side. "Alan was an engineering student who joined the course to be able to serve society. He was a pet lover, and was used to dogs, so he didn't take the bite too seriously. Our class is small, so we were very close to each other," said R Akhilesh, a classmate. Alan's funeral will be held at St Paul's Church in Vepery on Sunday.