What is Rabies?
Rabies is a zoonotic, vaccine-preventable viral illness. It is transmitted to humans and animals by bites or scratches, with saliva being the most common transmission mode. It can spread faster if a rabid animal licks an open wound on a person. Mostly, domestic dogs are responsible for the rabies virus transmission to humans. It’s an RNA virus from the Rhabdoviridae family that is 100% lethal once clinical signs arise. Rabies may infect both domestic and wild animals.
What Are the Causes of Rabies?
The bite of a rabid animal causes rabies in people. Animals that can spread rabies are:
- Dogs
- Cats
- Cows
- Horses
- Goats
- Ferrets
- Bats
- Foxes
- Hyenas
- Monkeys
Because pets in India are vaccinated, stray dogs are the most likely source of infection.
What Are the Symptoms of Rabies?
After contracting the saliva of a rabid animal, symptoms might occur between 1 week to 1 year, depending on factors, such as the virus’s entrance point and viral load.
Initial symptoms of rabies:
- Headache with discomfort
- Severe sore throat
- Fever
- Tingling sensation/ Paresthesia
- Cough
- Nausea/Vomiting
- Weakness
Severe symptoms of Rabies:
- Hyperactivity
- Anxiety and anger
- Hydrophobia (fear of water)
- Aerophobia (fear of fresh air)
- Convulsions/Muscular paralysis at the bitten area
- Nightmares, hallucinations, and sleeplessness
- Photophobia/fear of light
- Hyperventilation
- Hypersalivation
The symptoms of rabies don’t appear until the virus has gone to the brain. Towards the end, a person may slip into a coma. Even with supportive care, people die within three days of getting into a coma.
How is Rabies Diagnosed?
Current diagnostic methods are ineffective in detecting whether a possibly rabid animal has transferred the rabies virus to you when it bites you. It’s difficult to confirm before symptoms such as hydrophobia or aerophobia are visible. Your doctor may order many tests to identify the rabies virus. Virus isolation or a RT-PCR test can be used to test saliva. Rabies antibodies can be evaluated in the blood, spinal fluid, or through skin biopsy. Still, tests may need to be repeated later to determine whether you are infected. Suppose you’ve been exposed to the rabies virus. In that case, your doctor will recommend treatment immediately to prevent the virus from entering your body.
What is the Treatment for Rabies?
Wash the exposed area with soapy water if you’ve been bitten or scratched by a potentially rabies-infected animal. It will help reduce the number of virus particles. Then, seek medical help right away. Suppose you don’t know the status of your tetanus vaccine. In that case, the doctor will clean the wound properly and give you a tetanus injection and antibiotics.
Various factors are considered to treat rabies immediately by starting a course of rabies vaccination doses. Some of them include:
- The nature of the bite
- The type of animal (wild or domestic)
- The animal’s vaccination status.
Doctors will recommend the rabies vaccination to the patient bitten by an animal and exposed to the rabies infection. The rabies vaccination includes an inactivated or harmless form of the rabies virus, which means it won’t get you sick. It activates the immune system, causing antibodies to be produced, which stay in the body and help guard against future rabies infections.
How to Prevent Rabies?
To prevent the risk of developing rabies, practice these basic safety precautions:
1) Pre-exposure Vaccination: Veterinarians, animal handlers, rabies healthcare, and scientific employees should get vaccinated before encountering rabies-infected animals.
2) Vaccinate your pets: Find out how often cats, dogs, ferrets, and other domestic or farm animals should be vaccinated, and make sure they are up-to-date.
3) Protect little pets: Some pets cannot receive immunisations, so their owners must keep their pets away from wild animals. Please keep your pets confined or supervised when you are at home.
4) Keep bats out of the house: Seal windows and doors to keep bats out, and hire a professional to remove any bats.
5) Inform local authorities: Inform your local animal control or police department if you see a stray animal.
6) Approaching wild animals is not advised: Rabies-infected animals are less wary than usual and may approach humans.
What is the Cost of a Rabies Test?
Rabies test in India can be carried out at diagnostic centers. Doctors can determine what a person’s condition implies and choose the best strategy for therapy using symptom grading systems and a variety of diagnostic tests. The rabies test price varies depending upon the method of diagnosis.
The bottom line is to take immediate action when an infected animal bites or licks you.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
