October 9, 2024
HealthhodNo Comments
Welcome to health-HOD. I am Dr. Priya here with you. I hope you remember a tragic incident recently reported in Vizag where Dad and son died because of Rabies after being bitten by the Pet dog. So, this event underscores a critical importance of knowing Rabies and what are the immediate steps to be taken after a dog bite? And what are the preventive measures to be taken to avoid the fatal outcomes? To know all this, we have Dr. Athira Murali with us who is a specialist in Pediatric care to give an expert advice on this.
Q1: So, Doctor . Kindly let us know what is Rabies?
Hi. Rabies, It is a very fatal and viral infection caused by a virus called Lyssavirus. It is a zoonotic disease which means that it is transmitted to humans usually by infected animals. Infected animals and their salivary secretions will have a large amount of this virus. So, when an infected animal bites a human being, what happens is that this virus through the saliva gets deposited in the wound in that there will be lots of, nerve Fibers or nerve endings, this virus has enough affinity for these nerves. So, through these nerve endings, this virus gets transmitted upwards to our spinal cord and finally, to the brain, and in the brain and multiplies enormously, and then again it travels down to our salivary gland, Mammary glands, and even to our urine, make all these secretions infectious. That means it is capable of transmitting the infection to another person even though no human-to-human transmission has been yet tracked or reported.
Q2: What should we do immediately after a dog bite?
So, in case of a dog bite first and foremost important step, we have to do this. We have to thoroughly clean the wound, that is by using large amount of water, using soap. We have to clean the wound at least for 15 minutes. We have to clean the wound after cleaning we have to let it dry. Once it is dry we can apply surgical spirit or povidone iodine. This will inactivate the virus that must have been deposited there. This step is very important because it can decrease, the chance of acquiring rate is by at least 50% percent. The next step would be to see your doctor.
Q3: Many of us have this question when to see a doctor after dog bite. Could you please explain, will all the children die after a dog bite?
Symptoms of rabies. Usually starts within 30 to 90 days of exposure and once the symptoms start appearing, it is almost always fatal. However, it is a 100 percent vaccine-preventable disease. That is the importance of getting your child the correct time vaccine.
Q4: How effective is the rabies vaccine and does it have any side effects?
Rabies is a 100 percent vaccine-preventable disease and there is no proof of the vaccine causing any negative effect on a child’s growth or his future.
Q5: Will any dog bite causes rabies? Or are there any specific dog species that causes it?
It is not species-specific. Any species of dog can acquire rabies and can become infective and transmitted to others.
Q6: Many of us don’t know how to identify a Rabies dog. Are there any specific symptoms to be noticed?
Rabies dogs can be very aggressive, trying to bite and lick everyone, growling, and they can be restless. They can show paralytic features. They can show aggression in response to excessive light or sound, preferring to lie in quiet and dark spaces. They can have excessive salivation from the mouth. They can have aerophobia in later stages, that is they have a fear of air like difficulty in breathing air. There is the spasm of muscles. However, in the earlier stages, they can be asymptomatic.
Q7: Doctor, can a child take a vaccine for Rabies to avoid this mishap?
So, rabies is a highly fatal disease with its mortality reaching up to 100 percent. So, what we can do or how can we prevent this? So, there are two kinds of situations. One is pre-exposure prophylaxis in individuals who are highly exposed to such situations they can go for the vaccine. This rabies vaccine which will provide or it will induce production of antibodies against rabies infection in our body now. Second situation is post exposure prophylaxis, that is after getting a dog bite or infected animal bite. So, there are three steps. One is as I’ve already told the cleaning of the wound with surgical spirit or Povidone iodine cleaning. The second step is again vaccination here will induce immunoglobulin production in our body against this infection, but definitely, it will take some act like 7 to 14 days, also for immediate protection. The third thing is we have to give either monoclonal antibodies or immunoglobulins. However, we prefer monoclonal antibodies if available.
Q8: Can only dog bite cause rabies or any other animal bite can cause rabies?
Rabies is largely transmitted by infected dogs and cats. A small percentage has also been transmitted by wild animals like mongoose, foxes, jackals and other animals like monkeys, horses, donkeys, etc. Domestic Rodents and Rabbits are not known to cause rabies .
Q9: What are the preventive measures to be taken to avoid fatal outcomes?
Not all exposure will require vaccines so there are three categories in category one just feeding the animal or touching the animal, where just licks on covered skin by the animal does not require a vaccine, just cleaning may be enough.
Now category two- there will be nibbling of uncovered skin or minor scratches, and abrasions without bleeding, this category will require both local cleanings as well vaccine administration.
Now coming to category three here there will be at least one transdermal bite or scratch with bleeding or licks on broken skin or Contamination of the mucus membrane by licks or saliva from the rabies animal. So, in this category, it will require first debridement of the wound monoclonal antibodies and vaccination.
So always consult healthcare professionals and ensure timely medical intervention to prevent such heartbreaking outcomes. Be safe. This is Dr. Priya signing off. Thank you.
Be the first to post a comment.