What is the treatment for rabies?

Answer 1

FOR HUMANS, IMMEDIATE AND THOROUGH CLEANSING OF THE BITE WOUND AND A SERIES OF INJECTIONS INTO WOUND OF HYPERIMMUNE ANTIRABIES SERUM, A 14 TO 30 DAY COURSE DAILY AND THEN BOOSTER DOSES ARE GIVEN EVERY 10 DAYS AFTER THAT AND AGAIN 20 DAYS LATER. IN ANIMALS, DEPENDING ON WHICH FOR IT TAKES, THERE'S TWO, IRRITABLE OR PARALYTIC, DEATH MOST LIKELY WITHIN 3-5 DAYS. THERE IS A VACCINE MADE FOR DOMESTIC ANIMALS TO PREVENT THIS. SEE YOUR VET.

There is no cure once the signs of rabies appear. It is then inevitably fatal. However, the relatively long incubation period allows post-exposure therapy to be effective if done correctly.

Symptoms of Rabies include Hydrophobia (Fear of water) and localized numbness in the area in which the person was bit, if any rabies-like symptoms appear, the person should report to a hospital immediately where they will be injected with certain shots.

Answer 2

There is no cure for rabies - it is an almost always fatal viral infection once clinical signs are noted. However, animals and humans can be vacccinated (through a series of painful infections to the stomach) for rabies either prior to being infected (pre-exposure prophylaxis) or after being bitten by a potentially animal (post-exposure prophylaxis). This usually results in a strong enough immune response that the body can fight off the infection prior to clinical signs developing.

There is one case report of a young teenage female in the US surviving clinical rabies infection without having prophylaxis prior to the start of clinical signs. It was very expensive, very intense, took months to complete the treatment course and for several years afterwards was still in intensive physical therapy learning how to walk, eat, talk and write again. The treatment regiment has not be repeated in its entirety for any other case, so this is still a one-shot miracle as far as the medical community is concerned.

Answer 3

Current treatments of the disease

Immediate action should be taken if bitten by a wild animal. This includes thoroughly cleaning the wound with soap and water to remove saliva and allowing the wound to bleed to clean it further.

Postexposure prophylaxis is one method of treatment. It consists of one shot of human-rabies immunoglobulin and five doses of rabies vaccine. The first dose of the rabies vaccine is given with the shot of human-rabies immunoglobulin. The remain doses are given three, seven, fourteen, and twenty eight days after initial dose. There are three types of rabies vaccines, all of which are made from killed rabies virus. These include Human diploid cell vaccine (HDCV), Rabies vaccine adsorbed (RVA) and purified chick embryo cell culture (PCEC). The human-rabies immunoglobulin should be administered as soon as possible, preferably twenty four to forty eight hours after exposure. It contains anti-rabies antibodies collected from donated human blood. These antibodies provide passive immunity against rabies, to provide temporarily immediate protection against the progression of rabies infection.

In developing countries where rabies immunoglobulin might not have been available purified equine rabies immune globulin has been used effectively. Unpurified antirabies serum of equine origin might still be used in some countries where both rabies immune globulin and purified equine rabies immune globulin are available. The use of this antirabies serum is associated with higher occurrence of serious unpleasant reactions, including anaphylaxis.

*© T.Adams 2007

(part of my year 12 bio report on rabies, lol)

Answer 4

Rabies is a disease humans may get from being bitten by an animal infected with the rabies virus. Rabies has been recognized for over 4,000 years. Yet, despite great advances in diagnosing and preventing it, today rabies is almost always deadly in humans who contract it and do not receive treatment.

Rabies can be totally prevented. You must recognize the exposure and promptly get appropriate medical care before you develop the symptoms of rabies.

• Where rabies is found: Human rabies is quite rare in the United States. Only 27 cases have been reported in people in the United States since 1990. Yet in some areas of the world (for example, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America), human rabies is much more common. The incidence of rabies in people parallels the incidence in the animal kingdom. The great strides that have been made in controlling the disease in animals in the United States and in other developed countries is directly responsible for this decline in human rabies.
  • Although rabies in humans is very rare in the United States, between 16,000 and 39,000 people receive preventive medical treatment each year after being exposed to a potentially rabid animal.
  • Some regions of the country have more cases of rabies than others do.
  • Rabies in wildlife accounts for greater than 85% of animal rabies in the United States.
• Animals that carry rabies: Raccoons are the most common wild animals infected with rabies in the United States. Skunks, foxes, bats, and coyotes are the other most frequently affected.
  • Bats are the most common animals responsible for the transmission of human rabies in the United States, accounting for more than half of human cases since 1980, and 74% since 1990. Rabid bats have been reported in all states except Hawaii.
  • Cats are the most common domestic animals with rabies in the United States. Dogs are the most common domestic rabid animals worldwide.
  • Almost any wild or domestic animal can potentially get rabies, but it is very rare in small rodents (rats, squirrels, chipmunks) and lagomorphs (rabbits and hares). Large rodents (beavers, woodchucks/groundhogs) have been found to have rabies in some areas of the United States.
  • Fish, reptiles, and birds are not known to carry the rabies virus. (Birds can be infected with rabies in the lab, but there has never been a demonstrated case of a bird with rabies "in the wild.")

Answer 5

There is no cure for rabies - it is an almost always fatal viral infection once clinical signs are noted. However, animals and humans can be vacccinated for rabies either prior to being infected (pre-exposure prophylaxis) or after being bitten by a potentially animal (post-exposure prophylaxis). This usually results in a strong enough immune response that the body can fight off the infection prior to clinical signs developing.

There is one case report of a young teenage female in the US surviving clinical rabies infection without having prophylaxis prior to the start of clinical signs. It was very expensive, very intense, took months to complete the treatment course and for several years afterwards was still in intensive physical therapy learning how to walk, eat, talk and write again. The treatment regiment has not be repeated in its entirety for any other case, so this is still a one-shot miracle as far as the medical community is concerned.

all the information added below was added at a latter date

The normal form of treatment is a preventive vaccine, which is generally given in 5 doses over 28 days. Most patients also receive a treatment called human rabies immunoglobulin.

There has, however, been a possible breakthrough in forms of treatment which is to medically induce a coma (called the Milwaukee protocol). The reason this could work is because, kills through the brain, so a coma would shut down the persons brain stopping rabies from killing the victim. Well the person is in the coma their immune system would be fighting the virus and then the person would be revived. This form has only been tested 35 times on humans, in all cases the victims were passed the vaccine form of treatment and facing certain death and although it took months for this to work it successfully cured 6 patents. This although it doesn't seem like it's a very good option, is better than being left for dead. This though put the victims at risk of brain damage and other side effects.

for more information go to http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20593-rabies-may-not-be-the-invincible-killer-we-thought.htmlor

cdc.gov/rabies

all information added is found by exstensive reasurch done via internet but can't be garinteyed to be 100% right so correct me if im wrong

Answer 6

There is no treatment for rabies, though there is a vaccine which can be administered before symptoms start which usually prevents the virus from reaching the brain.

Answer 7

You can't treat rabies once they begin, but you can prevent them by getting your pet their shots.