Rabies is a viral infection that spreads among mammals, in particular among domestic animals and some predators, and is transmitted from them to humans through bites and saliva. This disease was known to people in ancient times. Many historical sources mention rabies, which is transmitted to people from infected animals. The causative agent of the disease is a neurotropic virus containing ribonucleic acid.
This disease has a contact method of infection. The causative agent enters the wound through the bite of an animal or through damaged skin. It must be borne in mind that not always bitten people get rabies. This is due to the fact that the virus itself may be absent in the saliva of the carrier during the latent period of the disease. The incubation period for rabies is approximately 60 days, but there are times when it is 12 months. In humans, the shortest period is observed with a bite of the upper limbs and parts of the body, and the longest - with a bite of the lower limbs.
The virus that enters the human body through a bite penetrates the brain and spinal cord, multiplies and causes inflammation. Through the nerve paths, it moves to various organs of the person, also entering the salivary glands, thus infecting the saliva. Further, the disease causes degeneration of the nerve cells of the brain, which provokes various disturbances in activity, including death from paralysis of the respiratory muscles.
Symptoms of rabies in humans are characterized by convulsions of the respiratory muscles, which are replaced by paralysis and ultimately lead to death. The smallest external stimuli, such as light, noise, and so on, contribute to convulsions. If we say what specific symptoms of rabies in a person are, then we can talk about the phobia, which manifests itself in the spasm of the larynx when the water or its sound appears. Patients become aggressive, they have delusions and hallucinations. The stage of excitement is replaced by a stage of paralysis, which leads to death.
If the vaccine against rabies has not been given to a person, the disease always ends in death. If a person has already developed rabies symptoms, there is no chance of salvation.
A rabies vaccine is used to combat the disease, but it is effective only in the initial stages, for several days after the victim has been bitten.
At the onset of the disease, the symptoms of rabies in a person manifest in the form of a depressed state, high fever and burning, itching, or other unpleasant sensations at the site of the bite. After this, other symptoms appear - shortness of breath, anxiety and anxiety, aversion to fluids, convulsive seizures. In the final stage of the disease, paralysis of various organs and parts of the body is observed. In exceptional cases, rabies initially appears paralytic.
If we talk about the stages of rabies, then they are divided into three parts: initial, stage of excitement and paralytic.
During the first stage, the temperature rises, general health worsens. Severe pains occur in the head and muscles. Many infected people also have dry mouth and vomiting. The bite site unpleasantly burns, itching appears. Other manifestations are possible, for example, hallucinations, as well as sleep loss, but they are quite rare.
During the second stage, the patient appears the main sign of rabies - hydrophobia, hydrophobia. Also, the patient shows excitement, aggression, cramps of the limbs.
In the third stage, paralysis of various organs appears, in particular the eye muscles and lower extremities, and it ends with paralysis of the respiratory organs, which, in fact, causes the death of a person. The duration of rabies is no more than 15 days.