Rabies - Symptoms and Treatments

Causes and Symptoms of Rabies

While dogs are fondly regarded as man’s best friend, the one major concern that people have when dealing with stray or canines that belong to another person is the possibility of rabies if the dog was to bite. Studies have shown that rabies infections are rather rare in the United States of America. However, the condition is very prevalent in other parts of the world and accounts for almost 50,000 deaths every year. The higher contributing countries happen to be developing nations primarily due to the fact that vaccination against the disease does not exist. According to World Health Organization, about 95% of all human deaths caused by rabies come from Asia and Africa. People living in rural areas are at a higher risk of suffering from the condition, mainly because of the difficulty that some of these people will face when trying to get treated for the condition before the symptoms start to develop. Once the symptoms have started to occur, there is no treatment that is likely to be effective. These symptoms include a fever, fatigue and headache which will then progress to a more severe condition causing changes in the central nervous system as well as the respiratory tract. In the most critical stage of the condition, the individual will also experience hyperactivity (also termed as furious rabies) or paralysis (also known as dumb rabies). In both types of rabies, furious and dumb, the condition could progress to complete paralysis which is often accompanied by a coma. During the development of the condition, the rabies virus will travel to the brain and could even take a few months to reach the central nervous system during the incubation period. However, once the infection has reached the central nervous system, it will cause death in a few days time – mainly by way of respiratory insufficiency. While most people consider dogs to be the primary carriers of the virus, cats are actually more likely to infect a person.

How to Treat Rabies?

When dealing with rabies, it is essential that you rush over to the nearest doctor and get yourself vaccinated. The vaccination process is likely to be a lengthy one as the injections need to be administered in a sequence of sessions spread over a few weeks. Make sure to wash the wound with some soap and water before going to the doctor. A higher intake of vitamin C is also known to significantly help fight the infection.