Rabies: Treatment and Prevention
Abstract
Rabies is an aggressive and extremely detrimental disease. For years, exposure to rabies was analogous to a death sentence as there was absolutely no hope for a cure or a chance of survival after contracting it. Now, thanks to the development of many new vaccines, rabies has become a curable disease that can easily be prevented from destroying the lives of both humans and animals. However vaccinations are only a single facet in a wide spectrum of precautionary measures that can be taken to help halt the spread of this devastating disease.
Rabies is a pervasive, virulent disease that has had truly terrible effects on the world for centuries. Dating back as early as the year 2300 B.C., Mesopotamian documents describe the erratic behavior of dogs that were prone to fits of inexplicable violence and rage- what is now referred to as rabies (Jackson and Hunter 1). Rabies is just as grave an issue in today’s modern world as it was in ancient times. If left untreated, rabies wrecks havoc upon the bodies’ of both animals and humans, causing acute encephalitis and eventual painful death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1). Although rabies is extremely dangerous, thanks to scientists like Pasteur there are now various methods for treating this disease (Jackson and Hunter 5).
Rabies is classified as a zoonotic disease, which, by definition, is a disease that can be transferred from animals to humans. Currently there are two different vaccine regimens that scientists have created as a way to deal with this destructive malady: postexposure prophylaxis and preexposure prophylaxis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1). As the names imply, the key difference between these vac...
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...then that we can make progress and move that much closer to making this disease less of a terrible issue for both humans and animals alike.
List of Works Cited
"Compendium for Animal Rabies Prevention and Control 2006." Recommendations and
Reports. 20 Mar 2006. CDC Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report. 22 Jul 2007
Jackson, Alan C., and William H. Hunter. Rabies. London: Elsevier Science, 2002.
"Prevention and Control." Rabies. 01 Dec 2003. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. 18 Jul 2007 control/preventi.htm>. "Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Regimen." Animal Bites and Rabies Risk. 12 Sep
2006. Minnesota Department of Health. 21 Jul 2007 .
Rabies is a deadly virus that occurs in the brain. It can affect all mammals but the ones that are most commonly found with the virus are dogs, bats, raccoons, skunks, and coyotes. This means that any non-mammal can not contract the virus, such as fish, birds, and reptiles (2). The virus can be contracted by humans with saliva transfer with broken skin contact from an animal which has the disease. As this is the most common form of transferring the disease it is very believable that Tea Cake contracts the virus from the wild dog that “managed to bite [him] high up on his cheek bone once” (1). The rabies virus works by being a bullet shaped virus that directly attacks th...
Almost 2,000 died the night of the 1928 storm in Florida. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston realistically depicts the Okeechobee hurricane that struck the coast of South Florida. The incredulous, category four storm produced winds as high as 150 mph and flood waters of up to eight feet. Hurston describes their heart wrenching experience throughout the end of the novel when Janie, the protagonist of the story, survives the devastating hurricane with her husband, Tea Cake. The book shows similarities between the overflow of Lake Okeechobee and the specific weather conditions of the hurricane, but differs regarding the aftermath of the storm.
one would do anything to avoid this potentially deadly disease, but the most favorable option, a vaccine, is not available. This blemish to our society should be corrected as a precautionary measure, which would ultimately enhance life in the future.
...at in domestic animals, which indicates wild animals cause a higher risk to humans. Controlling the disease in susceptible wild free-ranging animal populations is implemented by oral vaccination and recombinant rabies vaccine by use of vaccine-containing bait. The best prevention is decreasing chances to expose to the disease. Once a patient is suspected as a rabies case, the physician and local health administrator should decide whether infection actually occurs and whether a risk of rabies exists in the geographic area. Once the identification is completed, the patient should receive post-exposure prophylaxis immediately, which contains the combination of local wound cleansing, human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and rabies vaccine. The population such as veterinarians, animal handlers that have higher risk to be infected should receive pre-exposure immunization.
...ts about the dangers related to vaccines, progress is being made. The primary issue at the end of the day should be to protect the people from illnesses the best way possible whether it be with the help of vaccines or without.
Vaccines have been used to prevent diseases for centuries, and have saved countless lives of children and adults. The smallpox vaccine was invented as early as 1796, and since then the use of vaccines has continued to protect us from countless life threatening diseases such as polio, measles, and pertussis. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) assures that vaccines are extensively tested by scientist to make sure they are effective and safe, and must receive the approval of the Food and Drug Administration before being used. “Perhaps the greatest success story in public health is the reduction of infectious diseases due to the use of vaccines” (CDC, 2010). Routine immunization has eliminated smallpox from the globe and led to the near removal of wild polio virus. Vaccines have reduced some preventable infectious diseases to an all-time low, and now few people experience the devastating effects of measles, pertussis, and other illnesses.
Omer, S. B., Salmon, D.A., Orenstein, W. A., deHart, M. P., & Halsey, N. (2009). Vaccine
Once the rabies disease shows symptoms on the victim it becomes impossible to cure because the disease has already spread through out the entire nervous system. Did Zora Neil Hurston accurately portray the rabies disease in the novel as to real life? Because in the novel Hurston did portray the symptoms accurately. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston gave Janie's husband, Tea Cake, great characteristics of having contracted the disease. Some of the characteristics that were shown in the novel were Tea Cake gagging when drinking liquids, bad headaches and the time period it took for the symptoms of rabies to finally show up.
The history of vaccinations does not begin with the first vaccination itself but rather an infectious disease that had greatly affected the human population. In 1796 Edward Jenner created a successful composition using cowpox material that created immunity to the ongoing growth of the small pox disease. Jenner’s method underwent 200 years of medical and technological changes until it had finally resulted in complete elimination of the smallpox disease. Vaccinations have been a controversial medical topic for many years and although it is proven to be an effective means of preventing serious effects, including fatalities from childhood illnesses the controversy remains that the side effects from the immunizations outweigh the risk of contracting the disease. According to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia they state that “innovative techniques now drive vaccine research, with recombinant DNA technology and new delivery techniques leading scientist in new directions. Disease targets have expanded, and some vaccine research is beginning to focus on non-infectious conditions, such as addictions and allergies” (“The History of Vaccines” College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Web. 10 January. 2014). While public health officials insist that vaccines are the best way to protect public health. Over the past thirty years the vaccination schedule has tripled and since then there has been an alarming rise in the infant mortality rate in America. The problem is not the vaccination itself, but the quality of the vaccination.
Rabies, literally meaning “furious” in Latin, is commonly known throughout the ages for its terrifying effects on both humans and animals alike. Because the disease is fatal, people throughout the world have put greatest effort to find ways of controlling and preventing the disease. Natural remedies and protection amulets were used until Pasteur’s discovery of the vaccine. Based on those findings, people have altered techniques to make the vaccine. However, recently, there have been two particular cases concerning rabies. One woman survived the disease by an induced coma without receiving the vaccine. Another case a common organ donor infected with rabies killed all the recipients. These medical mysterious surprised many scientist even today.
Today eighty percent of infants are being vaccinated for diphtheria; pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, tetanus and tuberculosis (Landrige 2000). This percentage is up from about five percent in the mid-1970s; however, the death toll from these infections is roughly three million annually. Millions still die from infectious diseases for which immunizations are non-existent, unreliable, or too costly. Vaccines all function with the same idea in mind, priming the immune system to swiftly destroy specific disease-causing agents, or pathogens, before the agents can multiply enough to cause symptoms (Landrige 2000). Classically, this priming has been achieved by presenting the immune system with whole viruses or bacteria that have been killed or made too weak to proliferate much (Landrige 2000).
Rabies has been around for many years causing the deaths of animals as well as humans. During the 1910s, rabies in bats was suspected in Brazil. In 1931, it was definitively diagnosed for the first time in Trinidad in Latin America. Since 1985, bats have been the main rabies reservoirs identified. Bats are, and
Vaccinations are most effective when used preventatively rather than curatively. Vaccines help to reduce contraction and spread of infectious diseases and lead to healthy populations. With continued use and research, we have and will continue to gain and understanding about how vaccines work and how they can benefit our society, both now and in the future. Although there are minor concerns to consider when choosing whether to become vaccinated, the benefits greatly outweigh the risk involved. Providing vaccines and immunization is a worthy practice that has proven itself over time. With continued administration, we can have safer communities, and help to reduce disease today while working toward the elimination and eradication of diseases in the future.
The public is becoming increasingly aware of the potential for vaccination to cause reactions that range from swelling and pain at the injection site to life threatening anaphylactic shock, to brain and immune system injuries resulting in lifelong disabilities. " Since the illnesses that vaccines combat are no longer major killers in the United States, far greater attention is paid instead to the risks that immunizations present." (Calandrillo, 2004, p. 14)