Anything For Animals

posted by admin on May 11

Rabies injections for humans come in 2 main forms:

Pre-Exposure Vaccines - A course of vaccinations as a preventative measure administered before any possible exposure.

Post-Exposure Treatment - A course of treatments after a suspected rabid animal bite, lick or wound, with further treatment after a positive diagnosis.

The virus can remain latent for up to 4 weeks after the initial bite or contact ith the infected animal, but 3 weeks is the more common. Then clinical signs begin to show.

It all depends on the site of the infection: it will reach the CNS faster if the bite is to the head or neck; the severity of the bite - the larger the site the more exposed the tissues are and the dose of the virus - how much got in off the rabid host

Rabies Symptoms in Humans:
The first symptoms of rabies are usually non-specific and suggest involvement of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or central nervous systems. In the acute stage, signs of hyperactivity (furious rabies) or paralysis (dumb rabies) predominate. In both furious and dumb rabies, paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to respiratory failure. Death occurs during the first seven days of illness without intensive care.

Post Exposure Treatment - The most effective mechanism of protection against rabies after possible exposure is to wash and flush a wound or point of contact with soap and water, detergent or plain water, followed by the application of ethanol, tincture or aqueous solution of iodine.

Anti-rabies vaccine should be given for more serious exposures (larger wild animal bites, especially around the main veins and neck) as soon as possible according to WHO recognized regimens. All immunosuppressed patients will be treated as soon as possible after identification.

Suturing (closing the wound) should be postponed, but if it is necessary immunoglobulin must first be applied. Where indicated, anti-tetanus treatment, antimicrobials and drugs should be administered to control infections other than rabies.

Treatment should be started as early as possible after exposure, but in no case should it be denied to exposed persons whatever time interval has elapsed. There is no longer any pasteur rabies injections in the stomach, it is through a concentrated vaccination schedule that the sidease is approached now.

Where the animal is almost certainly identified as having rabies, immediate attempts should be made to identify, capture or kill the animal involved, to prevent further human risk, but also to test the animal - as it could not be infected at all, saving the human victim from further isolation and treatment.

Pre-exposure immuzation - Human deaths from rabies can be effectively prevented by vaccination, either pre-exposure vaccination or as part of post-exposure treatment.

Vaccines of cell-culture origin are preferable for pre-exposure immunization of humans, since they are safer and more effective than nerve-tissue vaccines.

Pre-exposure vaccinations should be given to all animal and health professionals who could come into contact with an infected animal, including veterinarians, animal handlers and wildlife officers, and other individuals who are living in or travelling to areas where rabies is endemic.

Periodic booster injections are recommended for persons at continuing risk of exposure to rabies, usually every 5 years although can be more regularly with those working with rabies cultures and around or with animals in endemic regions.

Rabies is currently an incurable disease once full blown, however, immediate post-exposure treatment initiated at an early stage using modern rabies vaccine can be 100% effective in preventing death.

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