Modern medicine has achieved significant success in treating various infections, however? Yet there are diseases that have not been defeated to the end. One of these diseases is rabies, which can be treated only in the initial stages immediately after infection. In the absence of immediate treatment, rabies in people is fatal, therefore it is necessary to take this “habitual” disease very seriously.
How can you get infected
The source of infection is sick animals, most often cats, dogs (both wild and domestic), wolves, foxes, raccoons or bats. As a rule, a person becomes an accidental victim, because this disease is not peculiar to him. Animals become infectious 10 days before the onset of the main symptoms of the disease, and the danger of infection remains throughout the entire period of the disease. The likelihood of infection increases in the warm season, so at this time you need to be especially careful, because rabies in people causes severe damage to the nervous system. In some cases, a sick animal can be distinguished by profuse salivation and hydrophobia, but it all depends on what stage the disease is at.
Is it possible to get infected from a person
Theoretically, infection can occur from person to person, because the patient’s saliva contains a pathogenic virus, therefore, when communicating with a sick person, precautions must be taken. Cases of transmission of the virus transplacentally from mother to child are known, and the possibility of transmission of rabies during organ transplantation also became an occasion for numerous discussions .
Description of the disease
In most cases, rabies in humans has an incubation period that lasts about 40-50 days, but sometimes this period can be significantly shorter or longer. It is believed that the further the bite is from the head, the longer the incubation period will be, but the most dangerous bites in the head and hands are recognized.
At the initial stage of the disease, the signs of rabies in a person are unexpressed, that is, the patient complains of general malaise, headache and muscle pain, possibly a slight increase in body temperature, decreased appetite, and nausea. The bite site turns red, burning and itching appears. Mental disorders are also observed - rabies in a person causes depression, feelings of anxiety, melancholy, fear, insomnia appears, which may be accompanied by hallucinations.
After a maximum of 72 hours, the stage of excitement sets in, in which the patient expresses anxiety and fear of water appears. It becomes difficult for him to breathe, every breath gives pain in his chest. Increased irritability and irritability appear, some patients rush about the room, destroy furniture, may try to attack people. Sweating and salivation increase, but saliva cannot be swallowed, so you have to spit it. Rabies in people, whose symptoms can often not be determined immediately, progresses rapidly, so the signs of the disease succeed each other, without even having time to form properly.
The terminal stage begins 3-5 days after the appearance of the first signs of the disease. It is characterized by a slight improvement in the patient’s condition, his mental health becomes stronger, he calms down. However, soon there is a rapid increase in temperature to 40-42 degrees, paralysis of the upper and lower extremities, convulsions, consciousness is impaired. The cause of death, as a rule, is heart or respiratory failure.
Rabies treatment
As you know, rabies in humans is incurable if the disease is already at least in the first stage. The only remedy that modern medicine can offer is vaccination, which must be done no later than 2 weeks after the bite. Vaccination creates immunity, which is quite unstable and requires revaccination every 5 years.