The Impact of Rabies on Humans

A cousin of mine visited recently and was telling me the story of a little boy who was bitten by a dog and passed on a few days after the incident.

I questioned if the boy was taken to the hospital or given any form of injection and the response was an affirmative No, which made me wonder why a parent would take with levity such an important situation.

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The innocent child may have died of rabies, and the parents must ensure that the child is taken to the doctor and treated as required. This left me wondering if there are people who are still unaware of the strong impact of rabies on humans.

Rabies is researched to cause approximately 59,000 deaths of humans yearly in 150 countries, with more persistent cases happening in Asia and Africa. However, countries like Western Europe, the USA, Latin American countries, Japan, and several Pacific Island nations have been freed from dog-mediated rabies.

In Africa, around 21,476 humans are confirmed dead every year due to rabies, and Asia records an estimated 35,172 human deaths yearly. Most of us attribute rabies to dogs only, but rabies actually infects cats, and livestock and even spreads to wildlife.

Rabies spreads to humans and animals through saliva, but mainly through scratches, bites, or direct contact with mucosa. In a place like the Americas, where dog-mediated rabies has been controlled, bats have now been found to be a major source of human rabies.

It is also possible for rabies to be contracted through the inhalation of virus-containing aerosols, organ transplant, or the consumption of raw meat or milk-infected animals, but these cases are very rare.

A situation of human-to-human transmission is also possible through the books but has never been confirmed physically. The incubation phase for rabies is often 2-3 months but could vary within a week to a year depending on factors like the virus entry and viral load.

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Symptoms of rabies before it becomes serious, begin with pain, fever, burning sensations at the site of the wound, prickling, or unexplained tingling.

Rabies come in two forms, we have furious and paralytic rabies. Furious rabies leads to hyperactivity, hallucinations, excited behavior, hydrophobia, lack of coordination, and aerophobia. Death coming from cardio-respiratory arrest happens after a few days.

Paralytic rabies happens to about 20% of human cases that exist, it is usually a less dramatic one that lasts longer than the furious form. The muscles gradually become paralyzed beginning from the site of the wound, then followed by coma which results in eventual death.

This form of rabies is usually misdiagnosed leading to an under-reporting situation of the disease. It is possible to prevent human rabies through prompt and adequate medical care. Human rabies vaccines are recommended especially for people who stand a high chance of being exposed to rabies virus.

Based on observation, dogs have been found to be the primary carriers of rabies in developing nations, while wild animals happen to be the primary carriers of rabies in countries that are already developed.

The vaccination is recommended for travelers, who need to also take into consideration, how remote the destination is, the duration of days to stay there, and prevailing rabies epidemiology. Whether it is a case of no risk or low risk, access to immediate proper care, rabies vaccination, and immunoglobulin, should be constantly accessible.

References

who.int/detail/rabies

ijidonline.com

control-of-neglected/rabies