Rabies Symptoms and Treatment in Humans

Rabies Symptoms and Treatment in Humans

All mammals are affected by this serious viral disease of the central nervous system. Usually, it is transmitted by accidental or traumatic inoculation with infected saliva. The bite of an animal may transfer this to humans. The urban type is propagated chiefly by unimmunized domestic dogs. Sylvatic rabies is propagated in skunks, foxes, raccoons, wolves, and bats. When the live rabies virus is introduced through an animal bite, there will be an early infection in 1-4 days, marked by fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, or cough. Later, encephalitis develops with excitation, confusion, hallucination, combativeness, muscle spasm, and seizures. The latter dysfunction of brain stem centers brings the traditional picture of foaming at the mouth, followed by frank paralysis, coma, and death. Unless artificial supportive measures are instituted, the survival is seldom longer than four days!

Approximately 30,000 persons in the United States and 1,000,000 in the world are treated preventively for rabies each year. The local wound should be generously scrubbed with soap, then flushed with water or alcohol. Lacerations should not be sewed shut. Active immunization is then given with either nerve tissue derived vaccine (NTV) or duck embryo derived vaccine (DEV). When the vaccine is given alone, fourteen daily doses are sufficient. When rabies vaccine is given with antirabies antiserum, twenty-one daily injections, followed by boosters, ten and twenty days after the initial series are required. The antirabies antiserum from human origin is best, to avoid serum sickness so common when equine (horse) serums are used. Until recently, rabies in a human being was regarded as 100% fatal. With the advent of specific vaccines, as well as intensive cardiorespiratory assistance, for the first time in history there is hope of survival in this dreaded disease.


Reference:
Richard A Hansen. 1999. Get Well at Home: Complete Home Health Care for the Family. Rapidan: Hartland Publications

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