Rabies is a viral infection that spreads through exposure to animals with the disease. Stray dogs are a common spreader of rabies. When the disease advances far enough, there’s no cure. That’s why it’s essential to receive vaccines for rabies if you’re at risk of infection and to get treated if you suspect a rabid animal has bitten you.
The first stage of rabies has flu-like symptoms. These symptoms will last for a few days and may include fever, nausea, fatigue, and muscle aches.
Common symptoms in the later stages of rabies include:
If an animal bites you or you’ve been around an animal that you think might have rabies, see a doctor immediately. Treatment can prevent rabies from advancing if you get treated early. Even if you don’t know if you’ve been bitten for sure, you can still seek medical attention. For example, if you wake up to find a bat in your room but don’t know if it’s bitten you, it’s better to be safe than sorry to see a doctor.
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Rabies is caused by the rabies virus, which spreads through exposure to the saliva of infected animals. Bites are the most common transmission, but saliva can sometimes get into open wounds or even the eyes and mouth.
Any mammal – animals that nurse their young – can spread the rabies virus. Common examples include dogs, cows, cats, goats, horses, and monkeys.
Risk factors for rabies include travel to a country where cases of rabies are frequent, being a veterinarian, handling the rabies virus in a laboratory setting, and having open wounds near the brain.
If you are bitten by an animal, there’s no way to know if you have rabies. Not seeing bite marks is not indicative of the presence or absence of rabies. If you seek out medical treatment, your doctor will need to test for the rabies virus continually. Preventative treatment is essential if you even suspect you’ve been exposed to the rabies virus. While there’s no way to know in the early stages of the disease if you have it, you can prevent it from becoming established in your body.
There aren’t any complications from rabies aside from the big one: if you don’t get preventative treatment on time, you will probably die.
Once a rabies infection is detectable – when you’re showing later-stage symptoms – nothing can be done to treat it. Some people survive rabies, but most die. If you suspect you’ve been bitten by a rabid animal or exposed to an animal with rabies, you’ll be given a series of preventative shots to keep the infection from taking hold.
These vaccinations will include a shot that works quickly to prevent infection. This is administered if you’ve never received a rabies vaccine. The next is a series of vaccinations given over fourteen days to help your body become familiar with rabies and equipped to fight it. If you’ve had rabies before, you’ll receive the treatments closer together.
In some cases, you may be able to determine whether or not you need the rabies shot. If the animal that bit you can be found, it can be watched to see if it’s showing signs of rabies. If it doesn’t show signs over a ten-day observation period, it doesn’t have rabies – and neither do you.
You can help prevent the spread of rabies by vaccinating your pets, keeping them confined, reporting strays, staying away from wild animals, sealing your home against bats, and getting the rabies vaccine if you live in or are travelling to a country where rabies is prevalent.