Do cows get rabies? Mad cow disease - why it occurs and whether it can be cured. Vaccines against bovine rabies

Rabies is an acute infectious disease that occurs with severe damage to the nervous system, usually with a fatal outcome. Humans and all mammals are susceptible.

Rabies is widespread. The causative agent of infection is transmitted by dogs, cats, wild rodents and predators, as well as blood-sucking vampire bats.

The duration of the incubation period depends on the location and strength of the bite, the amount and virulence of the virus that has entered the wound, and the resistance of the bitten animal. The incubation period lasts from 1-3 weeks to a year or even more.

The disease is acute. Its clinical signs are basically the same in all animals, but they are most typical in dogs, in which both violent and silent (paralytic) course of the disease can be observed. In cattle, rabies can have an atypical course (loss of appetite, rumen atony, pharyngeal paralysis, drooling). There may not be an arousal stage. Pathological changes are not specific. In meat-eaters (mainly dogs), foreign objects can be found in the stomach.

The rabies virus has pronounced neuroprobasia. Penetrating from the periphery (site of the bite) along the nerve trunks into the central (nervous system) centripetally, it spreads in the body centrifugally along the peripheral nerves and enters various organs, including the salivary glands.

The virus belongs to the family Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus. Virions have the shape of a rod with a chopped end. The virus virion is RNA-containing with a helical type of symmetry and has a lipoprotein envelope. Low temperatures preserve the virus. A temperature of 60°C kills it in 5-10 minutes, sunlight – in 5-7 days. Solutions of formalin, phenol, hydrochloric acid (5%) inactivate the virus in 5-10 minutes.

The rabies virus virion contains glycoprotein (external) and nucleocapsid (internal) antigens. The glycoprotein antigen induces the formation of virus-neutralizing antibodies, and the nucleocapsid antigen induces complement-fixing and precipitating antibodies.

Epizootic strains of the rabies virus are immunobiologically related, but differ in virulence.

In the body, the virus is localized mainly in the central nervous system, as well as in the salivary glands and saliva. Cultivated on mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals, as well as in primary cell cultures (Syrian hamster kidneys, sheep embryos, calves, etc.) and continuous cells (VNK-21, KEM-1, etc.). Reproduction of the virus in cell cultures does not always manifest itself as CPE. After preliminary adaptation, chicken embryos are also susceptible to the rabies virus. The virus induces the formation of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, which are most often found in the cells of the ammon's horn, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex.

The source of infection is sick animals. They transmit the virus through a bite. Carnivores can become infected by eating the brains and spinal cords of animals that have died from rabies. The possibility of rabies infection through the air has been proven (in places where there are bats). Until the 1960s, the main source of rabies was dogs and cats, later foxes, wolves, corsacs and other wild animals.

The diagnosis of rabies is made on the basis of epidemiological, clinical data and laboratory test results, which are of critical importance.

When working with sick animals and infectious material, it is necessary to strictly observe personal safety measures: wear rubber gloves, gowns with sleeves, a rubber or polyethylene apron, rubber boots, safety glasses, and a protective face mask.

It is prohibited to open animals suspected of having rabies in the field.

Laboratory diagnostics. It includes: detection of viral antigen in RIF and RDP, Babes-Negri bodies and a bioassay on white mice.

Methodology for setting up RIF.

Thin impressions or smears are prepared on fat-free glass slides from various parts of the brain on the left and right side (ammon's horn, cerebral cortex, cerebellum and medulla oblongata). At least two preparations of each part of the brain are prepared. You can also examine the spinal cord and submandibular salivary glands. For control, preparations are made from the brain of a healthy animal (usually a white mouse).

The preparations are dried in air, fixed in chilled acetone (minus 15-20 ° C) for 4 to 12 hours, dried in air, fluorescent gamma globulin is applied, placed in a humid chamber at 37 ° C for 25-30 minutes, then washed thoroughly saline or phosphate buffer with a pH of 7.4, rinsed with distilled water, dried in air, applied non-fluorescent immersion oil and viewed under a fluorescent microscope. In preparations containing the rabies virus antigen, yellow-green fluorescent granules of different sizes and shapes are observed in neurons, but more often outside cells. In control, there should be no such glow; nervous tissue usually glows with a dull grayish or greenish color. The intensity of the glow is assessed in crosses. The result is considered negative if there is no specific fluorescence.

Material from animals vaccinated against rabies cannot be examined in the RIF for 3 months. after vaccination, as there may be fluorescence of the vaccine virus antigen.

Tissues preserved with glycerin, formaldehyde, alcohol, etc., as well as material that shows signs of even slight decay, are not subject to examination in the RIF.

RDP in agar gel. The method is based on the property of antibodies and antigens to diffuse in an agar gel and, upon meeting, form visually visible precipitation lines (antigen + antibody complex). Used to detect antigen in the brain of animals that have died from street rabies virus, or during experimental infection (bioassay).

The reaction is carried out on glass slides, onto which 2.5-3 ml of a molten 1.5% agar solution is poured. After hardening in agar, wells are made using a stencil with a diameter of 4-5 mm, placed under a glass slide with agar. Agar columns are removed with a student's pen. The wells in the agar are filled with components according to the diagram.

All parts of the brain (left and right sides) are examined from large animals; from medium animals (rats, hamsters, etc.) - any three parts of the brain; in mice - the whole brain. Using tweezers, a paste-like mass is prepared from the brain, which is placed in the appropriate wells.

Controls with positive and negative antigens are placed on a separate glass using the same stencil.

After filling the wells with the components, the preparations are placed in a humid chamber and placed in a thermostat at 37 °C for 6 hours, then at room temperature for 18 hours. The results are recorded within 48 hours.

The reaction is considered positive when one or 2-3 lines of precipitation of any intensity appear between the wells containing the brain suspension and rabies gamma globulin.

Bacterial nonsterility and brain decay do not prevent its use for RDP. Material preserved with glycerin, formalin and other means is not suitable for RDP.

Identification of Babes-Negri bodies. Thin smears or prints are made on glass slides from all parts of the brain (as for RIF), at least two preparations from each part of the brain, stained using one of the methods (according to Sellers, Muromtsev, Mann, Lenz, etc.).

An example of Sellers staining: a dye is applied to a fresh, undried preparation, covering the entire preparation, left for 10-30 s and washed off with phosphate buffer (pH 7.0-7.5), dried in a vertical position at room temperature (in a dark place) and viewed under an oil immersion microscope.

A positive result is considered to be the presence of Babes-Negri bodies - clearly defined oval or oblong granular formations of pink-red color, located in the cytoplasm of cells or outside them.

This method has diagnostic value only when typical specific inclusions are detected.

Rabies(other names: rabies(lat. rabies), obsolete - hydrophobia, rabies) is an infectious disease caused by the rabies virus, which, due to its morphological features, is included in the family Rhabdoviridae.

Pathogen

The Rhabdoviridae virus causes specific encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in animals and humans. Transmitted through saliva when bitten by a sick animal . And also if the saliva of a sick animal gets on damaged skin or mucous membrane. In recent years, airborne, alimentary (through food and water) and transplacental (through the placenta during pregnancy) routes of transmission of the virus have been described. The virus, spreading along the nerve pathways, reaches the salivary glands and nerve cells of the cerebral cortex, ammon's horn, bulbar centers, and, affecting them, causes severe irreversible disorders.

The virus is unstable in the external environment - it dies when heated to 56.C in 15 minutes, when boiled in 2 minutes. Sensitive to ultraviolet and direct sunlight, ethanol and many disinfectants. However, it is resistant to low temperatures, phenol, and antibiotics.

Rabies occurs on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Rabies is not recorded in island countries: Japan, New Zealand, Cyprus, Malta. This disease has not yet been reported in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Spain and Portugal. At the beginning of the 21st century. A rabies epidemic threatens the complete disappearance of the Latin American Warao people.

There are: the natural type of rabies, the foci of which are formed by wild animals (wolf, fox, raccoon dog, jackal, arctic fox, skunk, mongoose, bats) and the urban type of rabies (dogs, cats, farm animals).

The natural reservoir is rodents, which are able to carry the infection for a long time without dying for several days after infection.

In humans, infection with the rabies virus is inevitably fatal if symptoms develop (however, prompt vaccination after exposure to the virus usually prevents the development of symptoms). Cases of recovery after the onset of rabies symptoms are rare: by 2009, only eight cases of people recovering from rabies were known, of which five were not laboratory confirmed. Thus, rabies is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases (along with tetanus and some other diseases).

As of 2009, 55,000 people worldwide die each year from rabies contracted from animals.

animal rabies

Epizootological data

Foxes, wolves, cats, cattle, dogs, sheep, goats, horses, etc. are susceptible to the disease. Saliva can become infectious 8-10 days before signs of the disease appear. Infection is possible not only through a bite, but also through salivation of mucous membranes and damaged skin.

Course and symptoms

The incubation period ranges from several days to several months, on average 3-6 weeks.

In dogs occurs in several forms.

In the violent form, the dog is depressed, disobedient and extremely affectionate, anxiety and irritability gradually increase, appetite is distorted, then swallowing becomes difficult, drooling and aggressiveness appear, the dog attacks oncoming animals and people. Further development of the disease leads to paralysis of the muscles of the pharynx, larynx, lower jaw, limbs and torso. The disease ends in death on the 8-10th day (sometimes after 3-4 days).
In the quiet form, excitement is weak or absent, difficulty swallowing, drooling, drooping of the lower jaw, paralysis quickly develops, and death occurs on the 2-4th day. In the atypical form - exhaustion, signs of gastroenteritis, seizures, and no aggressiveness.

In cats the same signs of the disease as in dogs, the violent form predominates with particular aggressiveness towards dogs and people, death after 3-5 days.

In cattle the silent form prevails. Excitement in this case is weakly expressed, hoarse mooing, drooling, unsteady gait are noted, and paralysis of the limbs quickly develops. Often the atypical course is refusal of food, atony of the forestomach, frequent urge to defecate, attacks of convulsions, then paralysis develops. In the violent form, at the time of a seizure, animals break from their leash, roar, dig the ground, throw themselves at walls, attack other animals of their species, and are especially aggressive towards dogs.

In sheep and goats the disease proceeds almost the same as in cattle, but paralysis develops faster (on the second day).

In horses and pigs the violent form predominates.

In wild predators The fear of people disappears; during the day they run into populated areas and attack animals and people.

Pathological changes

The corpses are emaciated, there may be bite marks on the skin, and carnivores have lip injuries and damage to teeth. At autopsy, congestive hyperemia of the internal organs is noted. The stomach is usually empty, but sometimes contains various inedible objects, which is especially typical for carnivores. The brain and its membranes are swollen, with pinpoint hemorrhages.

Treatment

Not effective.

Prevention and control measures

Orderly maintenance of dogs and cats; regulation of the number of wild animals; protection of domestic animals from attacks by stray and wild animals; preventive vaccination of dogs, cats and other animals(in state veterinary clinics vaccination against rabies is carried out FOR FREE - cm. Doctor's advice, State veterinary clinics of Vladivostok); timely diagnosis of sick animals; identification and elimination of foci of infection; a broad explanation of the nature of the disease and the rules for keeping animals. Dogs, cats and other animals that have bitten people or animals are immediately taken by the owner to the nearest veterinary hospital for examination and quarantine. In the absence of vaccination and clinical signs, it is possible to prove that your animal is not sick only with the help of laboratory tests, which cannot be taken from a living animal.

The locality where a case of animal rabies has been detected is declared unsafe and restrictions are introduced. Organize anti-rabies vaccinations of healthy animals, killing of sick animals of all types, as well as dogs and cats suspected of having rabies, destruction of corpses by burning (killed and dead suspected of having the disease); reduction in the number of wild animals. Places where there were animals, sick or suspected of illness, care items, clothing and other things contaminated with saliva and secretions of patients are disinfected. Restrictions are lifted after 2 months from the date of the last case of the disease and the implementation of the measures provided for in the instructions.

Human rabies

Clinical picture

The incubation period (the period from the bite to the onset of the disease) averages 30-50 days, although it can last 10-90 days, in rare cases - more than 1 year. Moreover, the further the bite site is from the head, the longer the incubation period. Particularly dangerous are bites to the head and arms, as well as bites from children. The incubation period lasts the longest for a bite on the legs.

Periods of illness

The disease has three periods.

Prodromal (period of precursors)

Lasts 1-3 days. Accompanied by an increase in temperature to 37.2-37.3 ° C, general malaise, headache, muscle pain, dry mouth, loss of appetite, sore throat, dry cough, and there may be nausea and vomiting. At the site of the bite, unpleasant sensations appear - burning, redness, nagging pain, itching, increased sensitivity. The patient is depressed, withdrawn, refuses to eat, and experiences inexplicable fear, melancholy, anxiety, depression, and, less commonly, increased irritability. Insomnia, nightmares, olfactory and visual hallucinations are also typical.

Excitation stage

Lasts from 4 to 7 days. It is expressed in sharply increased sensitivity to the slightest irritation of the sensory organs: bright light, various sounds, noise cause muscle spasms in the limbs. When you try to drink, and soon even at the sight and sound of pouring water, a feeling of horror and spasms of the muscles of the pharynx and larynx appear. Breathing becomes noisy, accompanied by pain and cramps. At this stage of the disease, the person becomes irritable, excitable, and very aggressive. During attacks, patients scream and rush about, they can break furniture, display superhuman strength, and throw themselves at people. There is increased sweating and salivation, the patient has difficulty swallowing saliva and constantly spits it out, hallucinations and delusions appear.

Stage of paralysis

The beginning is characterized by calmness - fear and attacks of hydrophobia disappear, and hope for recovery arises. After this, the body temperature rises above 40 - 42 degrees, paralysis of the limbs and cranial nerves of various locations, impaired consciousness, and convulsions occurs. Death occurs from respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest. Thus, the duration of the disease rarely exceeds a week.

Diagnostics

The presence of a bite or contact with saliva of rabid animals on the damaged skin is of great importance. One of the most important signs of a human disease is hydrophobia with symptoms of spasm of the pharyngeal muscles only at the sight of water and food, which makes it impossible to drink even a glass of water. An equally indicative symptom of aerophobia is muscle cramps that occur at the slightest movement of air. Increased salivation is also characteristic, In some patients, a thin stream of saliva constantly flows from the corner of the mouth.

Laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis is usually not required, but it is possible, including using a recently developed method for detecting the rabies virus antigen in prints from the surface of the eye.

Prevention

Prevention of rabies consists of combating rabies among animals: vaccination (domestic, stray and wild animals), establishing quarantine, etc. The rabies vaccine was first used by Louis Pasteur on July 6, 1885.

Vaccines currently used are typically given 6 times: injections are given on the day you see your doctor (day 0), and then on days 3, 7, 14, 30 and 90. If the bitten animal was monitored and remained healthy within 10 days after the bite, then further injections are stopped. During vaccination and for 6 months after the last vaccination, alcohol consumption is prohibited.

Treatment

Once clinical signs of rabies appear, there are no effective treatments. We have to limit ourselves to purely symptomatic means to alleviate the painful condition. Motor agitation is relieved with sedatives, and convulsions are eliminated with curare-like drugs. Respiratory disorders are compensated by tracheotomy and connecting the patient to an artificial respiration apparatus.

What to do if you are bitten?

The first thing to do is to immediately wash the bite area with soap. It is necessary to wash quite intensively, for 10 minutes. It is recommended to wash deep wounds with a stream of soapy water, for example using a syringe or catheter. There is no need to cauterize wounds or apply stitches.

After this, you need to immediately contact the nearest emergency room, because the success of rabies vaccine prevention greatly depends on how quickly you seek help from a doctor. It is advisable to provide the doctor at the emergency room with the following information - a description of the animal, its appearance and behavior, the presence of a collar, the circumstances of the bite.

Next, you should undergo a course of vaccinations prescribed by your doctor. No one has been giving forty injections in the stomach for a long time; you will be given a vaccine and sent home. And so on five or six times. A person who has been bitten can be kept in the hospital if his condition is particularly severe, those receiving repeated vaccinations, as well as persons with diseases of the nervous system or allergic diseases, pregnant women, as well as persons vaccinated with other vaccinations within the last two months. During vaccination and 6 months after it, you must refrain from drinking alcohol. In addition, if you are undergoing a rabies vaccination course, you should not be overtired, hypothermic, or, conversely, overheat.

During vaccinations, it is necessary to carefully monitor your health status. And if there are any complaints about the deterioration of the condition, you must consult a doctor and temporarily stop vaccinations. Only after examination by a neuropathologist, therapist and radiologist is the issue of continuing vaccinations consultatively decided.

Article updated 09.27.2019

Over the past 3 years, 60 cases of human rabies infection have been recorded in Russia. The largest number of such cases are registered in the Central, Volga, North Caucasus and Southern federal districts, as well as in the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chelyabinsk region. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, quarantine has been declared today in 50 settlements. These municipal districts are recognized as unfavorable in terms of the spread of rabies, and among the sick there are both wild and domestic animals.

In September 2015, a quarantine was declared in 6 Moscow veterinary clinics due to the occurrence of rabies in domestic animals. If rabies was found in domestic animals, this is the most dangerous, since their contact with humans is likely.

Is rabies a fatal disease?

The rabies virus affects the central nervous system of animals and humans. Rising along the nerve pathways, it reaches the brain and causes inflammation (specific encephalitis). Until 2005, rabies was considered a fatal infection for humans. There are only a few known cases of people being cured of this terrible infectious disease. However, a timely vaccination or certain measures, which will be discussed later, can save the patient’s life.

The main carriers of the rabies virus are:

Wild animals (wolves, foxes, wild cats, lynxes, bats, hedgehogs, rodents)
Farm animals
Pets

Statistics of rabies incidence in Russia by animal carrier species for 1997 - 2007

The diagrams show that the main sources of rabies are wild animals. Recently, due to the spread of rabies among wild animals, the virus penetrates simultaneously into several biological species. For example, it is transmitted from a wolf to a fox or marten. Therefore, you need to be especially careful and attentive in the forest. We have previously written about.

Approximately half of all rabies cases involve domestic and farm animals in contact with wild animals. The most dangerous wild animals in terms of rabies infection are foxes (first diagram). Moreover, you can meet mad foxes both in the forest and in the city. When infected with rabies, foxes can manifest themselves in two ways. Some may behave aggressively and attack people. Others, on the contrary, are drawn to people and show affection, like domestic cats. This behavior is not typical for a healthy fox.

If you encounter such a fox, you must immediately leave the forest or area in which it is located. Under no circumstances should you pick them up.

How can a person become infected with rabies?

A person becomes infected with rabies when an animal attacks him and then bites him. When analyzing the bulletin on rabies, it was revealed that it is the street type of rabies that occurs on the territory of our country. 99% of people who died of rabies (WHO) were infected by street stray dogs. It is also possible to become infected with rabies when animal saliva comes into contact with damaged human skin.

The second source of human infection is forest foxes. If the saliva of an infected animal gets on forest edible grass (for example, sorrel, sorrel) or berries, then eating them unwashed can lead to infection. For prevention purposes, it is necessary to thoroughly wash any forest products.

You can become infected with rabies if a motorist hits an infected forest animal and touches dirty parts of the car or the animal itself with unprotected hands. Ideally, it is necessary to report the incident to specialists at animal disease control stations, who should treat the area with disinfectant solutions and prescribe quarantine. If the blood of, for example, a downed fox gets on a person’s skin, it is necessary to immediately go to the nearest emergency room.

In addition, humans can be infected by pets that have been bitten by rabid wild animals.

Symptoms of rabies in animals

Once a dog or cat is infected with rabies, it usually takes about 15 days before the animal begins to behave aggressively.

The most common symptoms dogs exhibit are:

Starts gnawing or licking the bite site.
The dog's pupils dilate, and it begins to behave aggressively and even runs away from the house.
While maintaining an appetite, the dog can swallow inedible things.
The animal may have severe salivation with foam and vomiting (doctors consider this to be the main symptom of rabies).
Hydrophobia (may not manifest itself).

After these signs appear, as a rule, on the third day, paralysis of all muscles and death of the animal occurs.

In cats The most common symptoms are salivation and intense agitation.

In cows limbs are paralyzed and death occurs.

Symptoms of rabies in humans

For rabies, the incubation period ranges from 8 days to 1 year. Most often, the disease does not manifest itself in any way for 40 days.

The duration of the incubation period and the course of the disease directly depend on the location of the bite on the body, the age of the victim, the depth of the wound and penetration of the virus, and the rapid use of the vaccine.

It is believed that the shortest incubation period for a person when bitten by a wolf. As for the location of the bite, the most dangerous are the injuries to the head, face and arms during an animal attack, since the rabies virus infects the nerve fibers and cells of a person, then moving along the spinal cord to the brain.

A person's death occurs due to suffocation and cardiac arrest.

Symptoms of rabies in humans:

The primary symptoms of rabies include: low-grade body temperature (above 37, but below 38 degrees), malaise, convulsions during breathing and the desire to swallow food, headache, nausea, lack of air. The bite site turns red, and increased salivation is observed.
Nervous excitement, irritability, anxiety, headache, insomnia, depression, and poor appetite appear. All this lasts approximately 1-3 days.
Then a characteristic symptom of rabies appears - “foaming at the mouth”; excitement is accompanied by muscle cramps, which can occur even from bright light. Patients may become aggressive, scream, tear their clothes, use force, and break furniture. Body temperature rises to 39-41 degrees, tachycardia, increased lacrimation, salivation, and sweating are observed.
Subsequently, hydrophobia and severe breathing spasms appear. Most often at this moment the pupils dilate, and convulsions can distort the face.
Then the face turns blue. At the last stage of the disease, hallucinations with changes in mood and attacks of anger, which are very dangerous, are possible. During a rage, a sick person may even bite others.

It's worth knowing that there is " quiet fury" When a person’s illness can be practically asymptomatic, he does not show agitation. It is most often transmitted by the bite of humans by bats found in South America.

What to do if you are bitten by a rabid animal or a stray dog?

At the first symptoms of rabies, it is almost impossible to save a person. Therefore, if you are bitten by a forest or stray animal, or an unvaccinated pet, you should immediately seek medical help.
If the rabid animal is domestic, then it must be tied up and isolated.
Before the ambulance arrives, wash the wound with water and laundry soap and cause profuse bleeding from the wound, as there is a possibility that the virus will come out of it in the blood (virus penetration is 3 mm per hour)
You cannot stitch the wound, treat it with alcohol, iodine, or any other antiseptic.
You should not drink alcohol after a bite.
Animals that have bitten people should be examined by a veterinarian.
If the animal is aggressive and there is no way to tie it up, then it is necessary, without touching it, to call the sanitary service through the rescue telephone number 112.

Prevention of rabies

In the prevention of rabies, a very important role is played by the owner's compliance with the rules for keeping pets. The very first thing you need to do when you decide to take an animal into your home is to find out if it is vaccinated against rabies. Preventive vaccination using rabies vaccines for pets is mandatory in our country, and in any city or town, even a small one, they are required to do it free of charge in state veterinary clinics. The rabies vaccine is given at an early age. Repeated vaccinations must be carried out every year.

If you suspect your pet has rabies, you should immediately take it to a veterinarian for examination and testing. If an animal is not vaccinated, then it should not be allowed to participate in exhibitions and livestock farms, or go hunting with it in the forest.

If you want to sell, buy or transport dogs, you must obtain a veterinary certificate indicating that the animal was vaccinated against rabies no more than 11 months and no less than 30 days before the trip.

If your pet has been bitten by wild animals or stray dogs, you must immediately report this to the veterinary services so that it can be examined by a doctor.

The material was prepared with the participation of a veterinary paramedic

Rabiesis a disease of a viral nature that occurs after the bite of an infected animal, characterized by severe damage to the nervous system and usually ending in death. Rabies virus (Neuroryctes rabid) belongs to the group of myxoviruses of the Lyssavirus genus of the Rhabdoviridae family. Found in saliva, as well as in tears and urine.

After entering the body, the rabies virus spreads along the nerve endings, affecting almost the entire nervous system. Swelling, hemorrhages, degenerative and necrotic changes in nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord are observed.

The source of the rabies virus is both wild and domestic animals. Wild animals include wolves, foxes, jackals, raccoons, badgers, skunks, bats, rodents, and domestic animals include dogs, cats, horses, pigs, small and cattle. However, the greatest danger to humans is represented by foxes and stray dogs outside the city in the spring and summer. Animals are considered contagious 3-10 days before signs of illness appear and then throughout the entire period of the disease. Animals with rabies can often be distinguished by excessive salivation and lacrimation, as well as by observing signs of hydrophobia.

Human infection occurs through a bite from a rabid animal. And also if the saliva of a sick animal gets on damaged skin or mucous membrane. In recent years, airborne, alimentary (through food and water) and transplacental (through the placenta during pregnancy) routes of transmission of the virus have been described. Several cases of human infection with rabies as a result of organ transplant operations have generated much debate.

There are 3 stages of the disease: I - initial, II - excitation, III - paralytic. The first stage begins with general malaise, headache, slight increase in body temperature, muscle pain, dry mouth, decreased appetite, sore throat, dry cough, and there may be nausea and vomiting. At the site of the bite, unpleasant sensations appear - burning, redness, nagging pain, itching, increased sensitivity. The patient is depressed, withdrawn, refuses to eat, and experiences inexplicable fear, melancholy, anxiety, depression, and, less commonly, increased irritability. Also characteristic insomnia , nightmares, olfactory and visual hallucinations.

After 1-3 days, a patient with rabies enters the second stage - agitation. Restlessness, anxiety, and, most characteristic of this stage, attacks of hydrophobia appear. When you try to drink, and soon even at the sight and sound of pouring water, a feeling of horror and spasms of the muscles of the pharynx and larynx appear. Breathing becomes noisy, accompanied by pain and cramps. At this stage of the disease, the person becomes irritable, excitable, very aggressive, and “mad.” During attacks, patients scream and rush about, they can break furniture, display superhuman strength, and throw themselves at people. There is increased sweating and salivation; the patient has difficulty swallowing saliva and constantly spits it out. This period usually lasts 2-3 days.

Next comes the third stage of the disease, the beginning of which is characterized by calm - fear and attacks of hydrophobia disappear, and hope for recovery arises. After this, the body temperature rises above 40 - 42 degrees, and paralysis limbs and cranial nerves of various locations, disturbances of consciousness, convulsions. Death occurs from respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest. Thus, the duration of the disease rarely exceeds a week.

Treatment of rabies

There are no treatments as such for rabies. If the disease is already in the first stage, there will most likely be no outcome other than death. Although there are isolated cases of cure for rabies in the world. But for now this is exotic.

However, there is a way to prevent the disease by killing it in the bud. This is a method of specific prevention - the introduction of a special vaccine against rabies, no later than the 14th day from the moment of the bite. The best specific prevention is the administration of specific immunoglobulin and/or active immunization (vaccination).

The vaccine is administered intramuscularly, 1 ml 5 times: on the day of infection, then on the 3rd, 7th, 14th and 28th day. This regimen creates good immunity, but WHO also recommends a 6th injection 90 days after the first.

The best grafting site is the deltoid muscle of the shoulder or thigh. If a person is bitten, but before the bite he was vaccinated according to the full scheme, and he has a sufficient level of antibodies, he is vaccinated according to a special scheme without the use of immunoglobulin.

Therapy may be discontinued if the animal is found to remain healthy during the 10-day observation period or if the animal is free of rabies virus.

Some people who are at risk (veterinarians, dog handlers, hunters) need to be vaccinated in advance. Vaccinations are also carried out according to a specially established scheme with the first revaccination after 12 months. and then every 5 years.

What to do if you are bitten?

Next, you should undergo a course of vaccinations prescribed by your doctor. No one has been giving forty injections in the stomach for a long time; they will inject you with a vaccine and send you home. And so on five or six times. A person who has been bitten can be kept in the hospital if his condition is particularly severe, those receiving repeated vaccinations, as well as persons with diseases of the nervous system or allergic diseases, pregnant women, as well as persons vaccinated with other vaccinations within the last two months. During vaccination and 6 months after it, you must refrain from drinking alcohol. In addition, if you are undergoing a rabies vaccination course, you should not be overtired, hypothermic, or, conversely, overheat.