Rabies Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment
Rabies is a disease that affects all types of warm-blooded animals, and rabies symptoms are much the same whether occurring in animals or in human beings. Rabies is found all over the world including across the United States. Most cases of rabies are caused by wild animals but domestic animals are also susceptible to the disease. The most common way to acquire rabies is through a bite, when the saliva of the affected animal which contains the virus, can pass into the bloodstream.
The animals most often affected by the rabies virus are wild--bats, skunks, raccoons, and foxes. In Asia, the rabies virus is most often passed on by stray dogs. Few communities have adequate dog control with most having none at all. Among domestic animals in the United States, cats acquire rabies more often than dogs. By the time rabies symptoms develop, the disease is always fatal. But, every bite of a rabid animal is not necessarily going to transfer the disease. Only 15% of the people bitten by infected animals eventually get rabies.
Rabies symptoms can vary in the amount of time it takes them to present themselves. The rabies virus moves from the site of the bite to the brain, so someone bit on the upper arm would show rabies symptoms before someone who was bitten in the lower leg. The only way that rabies can be diagnosed with total certainty is when the brain is examined after death. It is also possible for an animal to have rabies and not show any symptoms whatsoever. This can sometimes make diagnosis in time to treat rabies completely impossible.
There are actually three different stages of rabies symptoms in dogs, cats, and other domestic and wild animals. The first stage, which lasts two to four days, is called the prodromal stage. In this stage, a dog, for example, would start to show signs of nervousness and not want to be touched by people. A fever usually also presents itself. The location of the bite will be licked continually.
The second stage of rabies symptoms can last another week. This is when many dogs become aggressive and it’s known as the furious stage. A dog in this time period would become very irritable and unlike himself or herself. The third and final stage of rabies is the paralytic stage. The rabies symptoms in this stage are the ones most often recognized by people. The dog cannot swallow and thus begins to drool. Next comes choking and very heavy breathing as the diaphragm and face both become paralyzed. The ultimate cause of death by rabies is respiratory failure.
Rabies Treatment
Rabies treatment differs between animals and humans, depending on whether the animal in question has had its rabies shots or not. If it has, it depends on how long a time has passed since the last shot as to whether another booster shot is given. If your pet is bitten by an animal that could be rabid, immediately wash the wound with hot soapy water (while wearing gloves) and take the animal to the vet. Your veterinarian will discuss all the available possible treatments with you. As long as an animal has had his or her rabies shots, there may or may not be a booster injection. In cases when no preventative precautions have been taken, such as rabies shots, the pet will be kept in isolation for ten days to see if rabies symptoms develop.
If a human is bitten and it is not known if the animal is rabid or not, rabies treatment begins in 24 hours. If the bite is from a domestic animal with its rabies shots, no treatment will be needed. The wound should be washed in hot soapy water while wearing gloves, if possible. Bites should never be sutured but left open. Because it can take up to one year for rabies symptoms to develop, if an animal is found to be rabid any time in the first year after the bite, treatment will begin immediately. This will involve a series of injections. This is one reason it is best to search for the animal in question as long as possible.
Rabies treatment may include passive treatment with rabies immunoglobulin and active immunization. Combined treatment has been proven more successful than just active immunization. Active immunization usually is accomplished by five injections in the upper arm over a one month period. Once rabies symptoms have started to appear, no treatment is going to be effective.
While the most common way to contract rabies is from an animal bite or by a scratch wound being licked by a rabid animal, transmission from human beings to one another is also possible. The anus, genitalia, conjunctiva and mouth have been other paths via which the rabies virus has been transmitted. Aerosol transmission has happened in laboratories and is believed to have occurred in bat caves. Five different times the rabies virus has passed from man-to-man via implantation of infected corneas. (continued...)
