Rabies (mad dog)

DEFINITIONS

Rabies is a viral infection of the brain that causes irritation and inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

CAUSE

The rabies virus (Lysa virus).

The rabies virus is found in the saliva of infected animals. This memularkan animal infections to other animals or humans through the bite and sometimes through a lick. The virus will move from its entry through the nerves to the spinal cord and brain, where they multiply. Furthermore the virus will move back through the nerves to the salivary glands and into the saliva.

Many animals can transmit rabies to humans. Most often a source of rabies are dogs, other animals can also be a source of rabies infection is a cat, bats, raccoons, skunks, foxes.

Rabies in dogs is often found in Latin America, Africa and Asia, because not all pets get a vaccination for this disease. Infected animals can have rabies or rabies tame wild.

In the wild rabies, an infected animal was restless and violent, then became paralyzed and died. In rabies benign, since the beginning has been a local paralysis or total paralysis.

Although very, very rare, rabies can be transmitted through inhalation of contaminated air. 2 cases have been reported to occur in the air explorers in cave where many bats.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms usually begin to occur within 30-50 days after infection, but the incubation period varies from 10 days to more than 1 year.

The incubation period is usually the shortest on the person who was bitten on the head or a closed place of shorts or when the bite is in many places.

In 20% patients, rabies begins with paralysis in the leg that extends to the whole body. But the disease usually begins with a short period of mental depression, anxiety, not feeling well and fever. Anxiety will rise to an unbridled joy and the patient will salivate.

Muscle spasms of the throat and vocal cords can be a tremendous pain. These eizures are the result of disorders of the brain areas that regulate the process of swallowing and breathing.

A gentle breeze and trying to drink water can cause these spasms. Therefore rabies patient can not drink. Because of this, then this disease is sometimes also called hydrophobia (fear of water).

DIAGNOSA

If someone is bitten by an animal, the animal bites should be monitored. Immunofluoresensi (fluorescent antibody test) conducted on these animals could indicate that the animal is suffering from rabies.

Skin biopsy, which was taken to the neck skin under a microscope diiperiksa, sually can indicate a virus.

TREATMENT

If done right the right precautions, then the person bitten by rabid animals rarely suffer from rabies will suffer.

People are bitten by rabbits and rodents (including squirrels, mice) do not require further treatment because the animals are rarely infected with rabies. But when bitten by wild animals (skunks, raccoons, foxes and bats) required further treatment for these animals may be infected with rabies.

Precautions are the most important is the handling of the bite wound as soon as possible. The bitten area cleaned with soap, puncture of the sprayed with soapy water. If the wound has been cleaned, the patients who had never been immunized with rabies vaccine rabies immunoglobulin injection diberkan, where half of the dose injected in the bite.

If you have never been immunized, then an injection of rabies vaccine is given at the time of being bitten by rabid animals, and on days 3, 7, 14 and 28.

Pain and swelling at the injection site is usually mild. Rare serious allergic reactions, less than 1% who have a fever after vaccination.

If the patient never received the vaccination, the risk of suffering from rabies will be reduced, but the bite wound should be kept cleaned and given 2 doses of vaccine (on days 0 and 2).

Before the discovery of treatment, death usually occurs within 3-10 days. Most patients died of airway obstruction (asfiksia), cramps, fatigue or total paralysis. Although death from rabies had allegedly unavoidable, but some people were no survivors. They were transferred to intensive care to watch for symptoms in the lungs, heart and brain.

Provision of rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin seemed effective when a patient when symptoms of rabies.

Steps to prevent rabies can be taken before exposure to the virus or immediately after exposure. For example, vaccination can be given FOR people at high risk of exposure to virus Laboratory staff who handle animals infected.

The people who live or lived more than 30 days in areas where rabies in dogs were found. A bat cave explorers.

Vaccination provides protection lifetime. But antibody levels will decrease, so that people at high risk of further exposure to get buster dose vaccination every 2 years.