Rabies is a serious disease. It is caused by a virus. Rabies is mainly a disease of animals. Humans get rabies when they are bitten by infected animals. At first there might not be any symptoms. But weeks, or even months after a bite, rabies can cause pain, fatigue, headaches, fever, and irritability. These are followed by seizures, hallucinations, and paralysis. Human rabies is almost always fatal. Wild animals—especially bats—are the most common source of human rabies infection in the United States.
Virtually all infections with rabies resulted in death until two French scientists and developed the first rabies vaccination in 1885. This vaccine was first used on a human on July 6, 1885, on nine-year-old, who had been mauled by a rabid dog. Their vaccine consisted of a sample of the virus harvested from infected (and necessarily dead) rabbits that was weakened by allowing it to dry for 5 to 10 days. Similar nerve tissue-derived vaccines are still used now in some countries, and while they are much cheaper than modern cell culture vaccines, they are not as effective. Neural tissue vaccines also carry a certain risk of neurological complications.
Skunks, raccoons, dogs, cats, coyotes, foxes and other mammals can also transmit the disease. Human rabies is rare in the United States. There have been only 55 cases diagnosed since 1990. However, between 16,000 and 39,000 people are vaccinated each year as a precaution after animal bites. Also, rabies is far more common in other parts of the world, with about 40,000–70,000 rabies-related deaths worldwide each year. Bites from unvaccinated dogs cause most of these cases.
If you got bitten by these animal, here are some things you can do. Thoroughly clean the wound site with soap and water for 5 minutes. If available, an antiseptic that kills viruses such as povidone-iodine, iodine tincture, aqueous iodine solution or alcohol (ethanol) should be applied after washing. If exposed, mucous membranes such as eyes, nose or mouth should be flushed well with water. It is important to follow these processes with appropriate treatment with rabies vaccine. If it is possible, call the animal control authorities.
Rabies is a viral infection of the brain that is transmitted by animals and that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Once the virus reaches the spinal cord and brain, rabies is almost always fatal. The wound from the bite may be painful or numb. Bat bites typically cause no symptoms. Rabies symptoms appear when the rabies virus reaches the brain or spinal cord, usually 30 to 50 days after a person is bitten. However, this interval can vary from 10 days to more than a year. The closer the bite to the brain (for example, on the face), the more quickly symptoms appear.
At first there might not be any symptoms. But weeks, or even months after a bite, rabies can cause pain, fatigue, headaches, fever, and irritability. These are followed by seizures, hallucinations, and paralysis. Human rabies is almost always fatal. Most people become restless, confused, and uncontrollably excited.
Their behavior may be bizarre. They may hallucinate and have insomnia. Saliva production greatly increases. Spasms of the muscles in the throat and larynx occur because rabies affects the area in the brain that controls swallowing, speaking, and breathing. The spasms can be excruciatingly painful. A slight breeze or an attempt to drink water can trigger the spasms. Thus, people with rabies cannot drink. For this reason, the disease is sometimes called hydrophobia (fear of water). As the disease spreads through the brain, people become more confused and agitated. Eventually, coma and death result.
The cause of death can be blockage of airways, seizures, exhaustion, or widespread paralysis. In 20% of people, rabies begins with tingling or paralysis of the limb that was bitten. The paralysis then moves through the body. In these people, thinking is typically unaffected, and most of the other symptoms of rabies do not develop.
Once you got bitten by animal, it is better to get the vaccine for rabies as soon as possible. A person who is exposed and has never been vaccinated against rabies should get 4 doses of rabies vaccine – one dose right away, and additional doses on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th days. They should also get another shot called Rabies Immune Globulin at the same time as the first dose. The patient must be take all of the vaccine including the 3rd time to minimize the risk of the rabies itself.
The first rabies vaccine was introduced in 1885, and was followed by an improved version in 1908. Millions of people globally have been vaccinated and it is estimated that this saves more than 250,000 people a year. It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is between 44 and 78 USD for a course of treatment as of 2014.
One of the best ways to protect not only your pet but also yourself is to vaccinate your pet against rabies. Although wildlife in the US typically accounts for the 90-plus percentile of yearly rabies cases, your pet can be exposed via the rabid wildlife and bring the disease into your home. In many states, including Texas, it’s required by law to get your dogs and cats vaccinated against rabies. Texas law also recommends that you get vaccinations for livestock (especially equines and others that have frequent contact with humans), domestic ferrets and wolf-dog hybrids.
Although vaccinated animals still need to be observed for rabies if they have potentially exposed a person (due to the rare possibility that the vaccine was not effective in that animal), healthcare providers feel more confident with observing the animal for rabies rather than testing it if the animal has been previously vaccinated. If you were to test an animal for rabies instead of observing it, the testing procedure requires euthanizing the animal and removing its head to submit to the laboratory for testing.
Rabies case is not rare in the world and people who get rabies almost always die. In the United States people are most likely to get rabies from wild animals. If you’ve been bitten by an animal that could have rabies, or are at risk of coming in contact with rabies, it’s very important to get the vaccine. Vaccine can be very good prevention to stop the rabies to develop. The rabies vaccine is recommended for people at high risk of coming in contact with rabies. For example, you may need the rabies vaccine if you work as a veterinarian or animal handler, study or explore caves, study the rabies virus, are traveling to other countries where rabies is common.
A vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of a vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small. Serious problems from rabies vaccine are very rare. In the mid problem it can caused soreness, redness, swelling, or itching where the shot was given (30% – 74%) also headache, nausea, abdominal pain, muscle aches, dizziness (5% – 40%). In moderate problems it can cause hives, pain in the joints, fever (about 6% of booster doses). Other nervous system disorders, such as Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS), have been reported after rabies vaccine, but this happens so rarely that it is not known whether they are related to the vaccine.
You need to tell your doctor as soon as possible if the side effect of rabies vaccine and occurred. Also, before you get rabies vaccine, you have to tell your doctor if you ever had a serious (life-threatening) allergic reaction to a previous dose of rabies vaccine, or to any component of the vaccine; tell your doctor if you have any severe allergies, have a weakened immune system because of HIV/AIDS or another disease that affects the immune system, treatment with drugs that affect the immune system, such as steroids, cancer, or cancer treatment with radiation or drugs.
If you have a minor illness, such as a cold, you can be vaccinated. If you are moderately or severely ill, you should probably wait until you recover before getting a routine (non-exposure) dose of rabies vaccine.
If you are pregnant or still in breast feeding phase, there is no evidence that the vaccine can harm unborn babies. Follow up of 200 pregnant women in Thailand found that the vaccine was safe. It is not known if the vaccine is secreted in human milk, but any vaccine present in breast milk should not have harmful effects. For the safeties of the mother and baby you have to always consult first with your doctor first. If you still want to learn more about Rabies Vaccine and during your visit in Bali, you can go and contact Unicare Clinic Bali.
We will provide you the information that you needed for Rabies Vaccine. Also, they will provide you the vaccine when you needed it with the handling of our professional health care.
