Rabies: symptoms, prevention & care

Rabies, commonly known as rabies, formerly known as "hydrophobia", is a preventable and incurable acute zoonotic infectious disease caused by the rabies virus. It belongs to the genus Lyssavirus in the family Rhabdoviridae and can cause severe encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. In unvaccinated infected individuals, when neurological symptoms develop, the outcome is almost always death, regardless of treatment or extent. However, for those who are at risk of rabies exposure, as long as they are vaccinated in time or use rabies immune globulin, the body can generally be stimulated to produce sufficient immunity to eliminate the rabies virus. The initial symptoms of rabies include fever and a stinging sensation in the wound. Later, violent behavior, uncontrollable excitement, hydrophobia, partial paralysis, confusion or loss of consciousness may occur. The time from infection to onset of rabies is one to three months, but can be as long as one year, or as short as one week. The onset time depends on the distance the virus travels along the peripheral nerves to the central nervous system. Rabies is usually transmitted from other animals to humans through scratches or bites from infected animals or sick people. The saliva of infected animals is also contagious when it comes into contact with the mucous membranes of other animals or humans. Among mammals, primates, carnivores, chiropterans, etc. may be infected, such as humans, cats, dogs, ferrets, ferrets, badgers, raccoons, raccoons, skunks, foxes, wolves, bears, bats, and horses. The majority of human rabies cases are bites from infected dogs (>99%), especially in African countries and third world countries such as India. In developed countries such as the United States, because dogs are generally vaccinated and stray animals are controlled, bats are the most common cause of rabies (dogs cause <5% of cases). Rodents such as squirrels, chipmunks and guinea pigs are rarely infected with rabies (except beavers). Therefore, if you are bitten by a rodent such as a rat, you should seek professional advice and decide whether to inject rabies vaccine after evaluation. The survival rate of rabies patients is extremely low. Only a small number of rabies patients can survive after receiving intensive Milwaukee therapy. As of 2016, only 14 people have survived after developing symptoms. The disease kills approximately 59,000 people worldwide each year, approximately 40% of whom are children under 15 years of age. More than 95% of human rabies deaths occur in developing and least developed countries in Asia and Africa, with the vast majority (99%) of deaths caused by dogs. In addition to Antarctica, rabies is present in more than 150 countries on the other six continents of the world. Three billion people live in countries where rabies still exists. In developed countries such as Europe and the United States, rabies is already rare. Among them, Japan has never had a local case since the 1950s.