Rabies

Rabies is a viral disease that can affect any warm blooded animal. The condition affects humans when they are bitten by an infected animal, and when this occurs the infected patient will normally have around a ten day incubation period (where the symptoms are not yet present) before the symptoms begin to show up. Once they do, the prognosis is poor and the condition is almost invariably fatal.

The incubation period of rabies is the amount of time it takes for the disease to spread to the central nervous system and then through this, the brain. When it reaches the brain it here causes 'encephalitis' as the main effect, which is the abnormal swelling of the brain which results in the loss of some brain function. Symptoms as a result of this will include such things as a headache, fever and malaise. As the condition worsens this will lead to such symptoms as uncontrolled movements as the patient loses control of their motor cortex, more severe pain and fever. Sometimes the patient will also experience mania - which is characterised by hyperactivity, restlessness, elevated creativity and high mood, and/or bouts of severe depression. It then often gives way to coma and eventually death, with the death normally caused by respiratory problems that are a result of the encephalitis.

97% of human rabies infections are from dogs, and our image of rabies is normally of a dog with a foaming mouth. However new medical supplies such as vaccinations have eliminated this problem in the US. In 1885 a Louis Pasteur and an Emile Roux managed to develop the vaccine from harvesting the virus from infected rabbits. The virus was then allowed to dry up in the neck nerve tissue of the rabbit for five to ten days making it weak for the body to fight off and develop antibodies. Since then more vaccines have been developed as medical supplies continue to improve. In the UK and Japan meanwhile medical supplies have resulted in the disease being eradicated from all land animals. However in all these countries still have concern air born animals and specifically bats. In the US there are only around 1-2 cases of human rabies infections a year, but these are almost entirely from bats. It is advised then that if you wake to find a bat in your room, or find a bat in the room of a child or relative, then you should seek consultation from a doctor immediately. In poorer countries such as parts of Africa however, rabies is still much more prevalent and carried by dogs and other animals, as a result of those countries having access to fewer medical supplies.

If you should find yourself bitten while abroad, or suspect you may have been bitten by a bat (err on the side of caution as bat bites can be hard to notice), then you should right away wash the wound with hot soapy water. If you catch the disease within ten days, doctors will administer post-exposure prophylaxis which has a very high success rate in controlling the condition.

For a selection of medical supplies follow the links. Medical supplies save lives and doctors should be stocked up on syringes and medication at all times.