Rabies

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Rabies

Central nervous system

Rabies

Treatment:

Clean the wound well with soap and water, and seek professional medical help.Thorough cleaning and removal of foreign objects (debridement) from the wound is needed. This requires a doctor's care. Most of the time, stitchesshould not be used for animal bite wounds.

If there is any risk of rabies, you will be given a preventative vaccine.

Expectations (prognosis):

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If immunization is given within 2 days of the bite, rabies is usually prevented. To date, no one in the U.S. has yet developed rabies when given the vaccine promptly and appropriately.

Once the symptoms appear, few people survive the disease. Death from respiratory failure usually occurs within 7 days after symptoms start.

Complications:

Untreated, rabies can lead to coma and death.

In rare cases, some people may have an allergic reaction to the rabies vaccine.

Calling your health care provider:

Go to the emergency room or call the local emergency number (such as 911) if an animal bites you.

References:

Marx J. Rosen?s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 5th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2002:1837-1838.

Stantic-Pavlinic M. Public health concerns in bat rabies across Europe. Euro Surveill. 2005 Nov 1;10(11) .

Brookes SM, Aegerter JN, Smith GC. European bat lyssavirus in Scottish bats. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 Apr;11(4):572-8.

Cohen J, Powderly WG. Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Elsevier; 2004:1503-1506.