- Main symptoms
- How to identify an angry animal
- How the transmission happens
- How to prevent infection
- What to do if you are bitten by an angry animal
- How the treatment is done
Rabies is a viral disease where the central nervous system (CNS) is compromised and can lead to death in 5 to 7 days, if the disease is not properly treated. This disease can be cured when a person seeks medical help as soon as it is bitten by an infected animal or when symptoms appear.
The causative agent of rabies is the rabies virus that belongs to the order Mononegavirales , family Rhabdoviridae and genus Lyssavirus . Animals that can transmit rabies to humans are mainly rabid dogs and cats, but all warm-blooded animals can also be infected and transmit to humans. Some examples are bats that consume blood, farm animals, fox, raccoon and monkeys.
Main symptoms
The symptoms of rabies in humans begin approximately 45 days after the bite of the infected animal, since the virus must reach the brain before causing any type of symptom. Thus, it is common for the person to have been bitten for some time before showing any signs or symptoms.
However, when they first appear, the first symptoms are usually similar to those of the flu and include:
- General malaise; Feeling weak; Headache; Low fever; Irritability.
In addition, discomfort may also appear at the site of the bite, such as a tingling or stinging sensation.
As the disease develops, other symptoms related to brain function begin to appear, such as anxiety, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, hallucinations and insomnia.
When symptoms related to brain function appear, the disease is usually fatal and, therefore, the person can be admitted to the hospital just to take medication directly into the vein and try to relieve the discomfort.
How to identify an angry animal
In the first stage of infection, animals infected with the rabies virus may present without strength, with constant vomiting and weight loss, however, these symptoms end up progressing to excessive salivation, abnormal behavior and self-mutilation.
How the transmission happens
The transmission of the rabies virus happens through direct contact, that is, it is necessary that the saliva of the animal or of the infected person comes into contact with a wound in the skin or with the membranes of the eyes, nose or mouth. For this reason, the most common cause of rabies transmission is through the bite of an animal, and it is rarer for transmission to happen through scratches.
How to prevent infection
The best way to protect yourself from rabies is to vaccinate all dogs and cats with the rabies vaccine, because even if you are bitten by one of these animals, as they will not be contaminated, the person, if bitten, will not be sick.
Other preventive measures are to avoid contact with stray, abandoned animals and contact with wild animals, even if they do not yet appear to show symptoms of rabies, as the symptoms may take weeks or months to manifest.
In addition, people who work with animals can also make the rabies vaccine as a prevention, as they are at greater risk of being infected by the virus. See when the vaccine should be done and who should take it.
What to do if you are bitten by an angry animal
When a person is bitten by an animal, even if he does not show symptoms of rabies, and especially if he is a street animal, he should wash the place with soap and water and then go to the health center or the emergency room to assess the risk of getting rabies and, thus, start the virus exposure protocol, which is usually done with several doses of the rabies vaccine.
See what to do after a dog or cat bite.
How the treatment is done
When the person has not been to the hospital after the animal's bite, and symptoms of infection have already appeared in the brain, it is generally recommended that the patient stay in the hospital, inside the ICU. Depending on the severity, the person may be kept in isolation, in deep sedation and breathing through devices. During hospitalization the person needs to be fed with a nasoenteral tube, must remain with a bladder tube and be taking serum through the vein.
When rabies is confirmed, remedies such as Amantadine and Biopterine are indicated, but other remedies that can be used are Midazolan, Fentanyl, Nimodipine, Heparin and Ranitidine to avoid complications.
To see if the person is improving, several tests are performed to control the levels of sodium, blood gas, magnesium, zinc, T4 and TSH, in addition to the examination of the cerebrospinal fluid, cranial Doppler, magnetic resonance and computed tomography.
After confirmation of the complete elimination of the virus from the body through examinations, the person can survive, however, this is a rare event, and most people with an already well-developed infection may end up losing their lives.
