How to stop worrying about rabies
Do I need to be worried about rabies? Here's what to know.
If the idea of rabies conjures up images of the scary, slobbering St. Bernard from Cujo, you're not alone. And with rabies-related stories popping up in the news about raccoons getting oral vaccines in the form of "treats" and climate change possibly increasing our rabies risk, for example you may be wondering just how worried you need to be about this fatal disease. The answer? It depends.
What is rabies?
Rabies is a disease that mainly manifests as encephalitis, which is infection and inflammation of the brain, Stanford University professor of medicine and infectious disease expert Dr. Dean Winslow tells Yahoo Life. Its caused by what is called a lyssavirus.
The virus is contracted due to contact with an infected animal, typically via a bite. In the United States, bats are one of the major vectors of rabies, as are raccoons, skunks and foxes. Previously, dogs and cats were spreaders of rabies, however, thanks to successful vaccination campaigns in the U.S., there are low levels of rabies among these populations. On a global scale, however, the World Health Organization reports that dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99% of all rabies transmissions to humans.
Rabies is present in humans in two separate stages, Dr. Drake Matuska, family physician at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wis., tells Yahoo Life. Rabies does have an early-disease stage in which people have a general sense of illness, with fever, chills, muscle weakness, muscle pain, fatigue, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting. This can last for up to one week. This eventually progresses to the full disease of rabies, which includes confusion or altered mental status, paralysis, hallucinations, excessive drooling, difficulty swallowing and eventually death.
When to seek medical care
Winslow says there can be a fairly long incubation period before people who are infected with rabies see symptoms typically several weeks to three months and, on occasion, up to a year. However, once rabies takes hold, the disease is almost 100% fatal. Thats why it is crucial that people dont wait to seek medical attention after an interaction with an animal of unknown rabies status even if you arent sure if the animal in question has rabies or not.
Lets say you are bitten by a skunk, or a domestic animal where you don't know the vaccination status you need to immediately get medical attention and receive both a prophylactic medicine called rabies hyperimmune globulin, which is the antibody that can neutralize a rabies virus, along with starting a rabies immunization or vaccination series, says Winslow.
Matuska adds, The earlier you get the vaccinations, the less likely you are to pass away from the disease, should you get it.
It's possible to be unaware that you've bitten by an animal but if one has potentially been in contact with you, its important to get started on the regime, just in case.
For example, Matuska says, If you have a bat thats in the same room with you lets say, you wake up in the morning, and theres a bat in the room you can capture the bat and have it analyzed, because some of the bites can be unapparent. In the United States, the public health departments can really quickly do a histopathology on an animal's brain to determine whether it's infected with rabies or not.
This rabies intervention is not always 100% successful, and may be less effective in immunocompromised individuals.
What to do if youre concerned about exposure
Most of us dont regularly interact with animals that may carry rabies, meaning that while rabies is certainly serious, its not exactly something you need to be worried about on a daily basis. People who do have more contact with animals, like veterinarians or animal control workers, can receive a pre-exposure rabies vaccination.
It also may be helpful to get a pre-exposure rabies vaccination if you are traveling somewhere with high levels of rabies in animals you may potentially come into contact with.
In much of the rest of the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, dogs and cats are not vaccinated routinely, Winslow says. I recommend that if youre traveling to a country where youre going to be potentially exposed, to consider a prophylactic vaccination.
Rabies: A Forgotten Killer
Rabies is a virus that infects wildlife, especially bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes in the US. It can spread to people and pets when they are bitten or scratched, causing fever, agitation and death. Rabies is 100% preventable with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) that includes rabies vaccine and medications to fight infection, as long as people get PEP before symptoms start. Understanding the riskof rabies and knowing what to do after contact with wildlife can save lives.
- The best way to avoid rabies is to stay away from wildlife.
- Contact with infected bats is the leading cause of rabies deaths in people in the US.
- Rabid dogs outside the US are the second leading cause of rabies deaths in Americans, who are exposed during travel abroad.
- Whether in the US or abroad, seeing a healthcare provider quickly after an animal bite or scratch can ensure people get PEP if needed.
