By Dr Khushboo Shah Sawant
Animals especially the domestic ones are probably one of the fewest sources of pure unconditional love. However sometimes these very animals can get the better of you and prove to be fatal, especially if the animal is unvaccinated. Today we shall have a look at the condition called as `Rabies`™ which unfortunately in our country still prevails as a source of over 50,000 deaths annually. And the victims often are people who belong to lower socio economic strata of the society. In our country unvaccinated and rabies infected stray dogs are the most common source of infection in humans. In other developed countries bats are more common even foxes, raccoons and coyotes are known to spread rabies.
Rabies is a deadly and incurable disease, which is mostly spread by the saliva of the infected animal. The most common type of transmission is through a bite. In humans rabies causes the inflammation of the brain and eventual death. Till date there is no known treatment to stop or slow down the progress of the disease once the symptoms begin to develop. So once a person is bitten by a non-vaccinated dog carrying the disease, and the person remains untreated then within a matter of time usually a couple of weeks and the symptoms begin to develop, and once that happens, death is almost always inevitable. Rabies infection is caused by a virus called the rabies virus. The infected animals can spread the infection by saliva which happens usually by biting. Rarely the saliva entering through broken skin, mucous membranes such as eyes and mouth etc are also known to spread the disease. For example if an infected animal licks a person`™s open wound, it could give a potential rabies infection.
Once bitten by an animal, it is best to visit a doctor within the first 48 hours of the injury to prevent rabies after the animal bite. Symptoms do not begin to develop immediately; it may even appear within a couple of months after the injury. As and when the symptoms appear they tend to be similar with the symptoms of a common fever or flu. Usually after infection, high fever occur along with increased sensations at the site of the injury; within a span of few days the person develops morbid symptoms of violence, hydrophobia which is fear of water. They are over-sensitive even to tactile sensation or the sound of water. When these symptoms occur the person must be immediately quarantined.
The infected person then deteriorates further and develops symptoms like paralysis; unable to eat food, urge to bite others, confusion, loss of consciousness, paranoia, hallucinations and most often leading to death in the end.
Preventive measures to be taken in case an animal bites you, the routine guidelines to go about it is to first wash your wound gently and thoroughly with soap and plenty of running water, it is preferable to keep the flow of water in the downward direction i.e. from the wound towards the floor rather than towards the body. This reduces the risk of infection. Keep a check on the animal that bit you. And visit a doctor who provides anti rabies vaccine immediately for vaccination. Be sure to tell the doctor correct details about the animal that bit you. If the animal is a pet, check with the owner about the details of the animal`™s vaccination. The doctor will check the site of the wound and decide about the treatment. The treatment often involves vaccination on the 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28th day after the bite with an anti-rabies vaccine. Also along with it a tetanus injection and medication for the wound may be given.
It is always best to keep pet animals regularly vaccinated. Equally, it is important to keep a check on the stray dogs in the locality, and watch out for signs of rabies in the dogs. Dogs infected with rabies usually show signs of restlessness, aggression, may become sensitive to light and may be hidden in dark corners, may attempt to bite people etc. It is advisable to notify the local administrative authorities about such animal. In spite of the vaccine treatment available as of now, there can be fatalities if timely treatment is not given, which also depends on the availability of the vaccine as well. Therefore, prevention is always the best option.