Rabies in humans ?

[riu girl]

When a person is bit by an animal with rabies, how long do they have (hours, days ?) to get the first of the rabies vaxxine shots for it to be effective?

Thank you

 

[Northstar]

I believe it partly depends on how close the bite was to your head... you have to get it before the virus gets a hold on the central nervous system.

But I sure wouldn't delay. The sooner you get to a doctor the better.

 

[LuvOrlando]

CHeck the CDC.

 

[mickeywho?]

When a person is bit by an animal with rabies, how long do they have (hours, days ?) to get the first of the rabies vaxxine shots for it to be effective?

Thank you

You need to see a doctor immediately.

Is the animal around? Public Health will first test it if possible.

If they do not have the animal to test the doctor will act under the assumption it was infected with rabies.

My dh and both ds were treated a couple of years ago. We never saw a bite mark on any of them - but discovered a bat in my son's bedroom one morning. It was likely there all night so there was a chance he may have been bitten without knowing. My eldest ds and dh chased the bat through the house and between them managed to get it in a sheet and then sent it outside. It was obviously not "right"...and bats aren't something we see very often around here. Either of them may have been bitten but did not feel anything but the doctor was not willing to take a chance.

All three had a series of injections (in the arm - much better than years ago) and that was the end of it. If we had the forethought to keep the bat they would have had it tested first.

Better to be treated with the assumption that there could be rabies than not - the consequences are deadly.

 

[tonilea]

The likelyhood of contracting rabies are pretty slim, but the results are so deadly - no one is willing to take a chance. If you have been bitten by an animal, you need to see a doctor.

 

[DawnCt1]

Only one person has survived rabies EVER. So why would anyone want to sit around and think about it?

 

[Mimi1965]

All three had a series of injections

(in the arm - much better than years ago)
and that was the end of it. If we had the forethought to keep the bat they would have had it tested first.

Better to be treated with the assumption that there could be rabies than not - the consequences are deadly.

My brother was bitten by a dog who ran away and had to get the shots-and this was over 20 years ago-I remember it was a PAINFUL set of shots in his stomach.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You can get a vaccination for prevention of rabies. When my dd when to China it was one of the things on the list if she were going out to rural areas an if she were to be working with animals.

It was a series of 3-5 shots over the course of time, I do believe and it was not cheap. Like 300 per injection at the place we were going. My dd ended up just getting a Typhoid shot.

Not sure of all the details, but it is certainly worth checking out.

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/rabies/qandavax.asp

Have you been bitten?

 

[barkley]

Only one person has survived rabies EVER. So why would anyone want to sit around and think about it?

even absent rabies the risk of infection from a bite is huge so it needs to be properly treated.

i remember my dad ending up in the hospital a couple of days after a neighbors very well cared for/healthy housecat bit his hand. within 48 hours my fathers hand and arm were swollen to the point that the skin looked like it was going to split it was touch and go as to weather he might lose some fingers, but agressive i.v. antibiotics during a multiple day stay did the trick.

 

[DawnCt1]

even absent rabies the risk of infection from a bite is huge so it needs to be properly treated.

i remember my dad ending up in the hospital a couple of days after a neighbors very well cared for/healthy housecat bit his hand. within 48 hours my fathers hand and arm were swollen to the point that the skin looked like it was going to split it was touch and go as to weather he might lose some fingers, but agressive i.v. antibiotics during a multiple day stay did the trick.

Yup!

 

[arminnie]

even absent rabies the risk of infection from a bite is huge so it needs to be properly treated.

i remember my dad ending up in the hospital a couple of days after a neighbors very well cared for/healthy housecat bit his hand. within 48 hours my fathers hand and arm were swollen to the point that the skin looked like it was going to split it was touch and go as to weather he might lose some fingers, but agressive i.v. antibiotics during a multiple day stay did the trick.

This is almost exactly what happened to me in May. I had the tiniest little nick on my hand. At lunch I watched as a red welt appeared. I went to ER. In less than 24 hours my hand and arm were swollen just like you described. I was admitted for several days of IV antibiotics.

My doctor told me he had a patient who DIED from a paper cut in less than 48 hours. I was just lucky that I didn't wait to go to ER. My treatment (oral antibiotics first then IV) started with hours.

This happened to me on a Saturday. Had I waited until Monday to go see a doctor the outcome would not have been pretty.

 

[Topper]

Only one person has survived rabies EVER. So why would anyone want to sit around and think about it?

Was it a black woman from the Atlanta area?

Seems to ring a bell for me...

 

[SaraJayne]

Was it a black woman from the Atlanta area?

Seems to ring a bell for me...

It was actually a young girl from my neck of the woods (NE WI).

 

[SaraJayne]

In November 2004, Jeanna Giese, a fifteen-year old girl from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, became one of only six humans known to have survived rabies after the onset of symptoms, and the first known instance of a human surviving rabies without vaccine treatment. Giese's disease was already too far progressed for the vaccine to help, and she was considered too weak to tolerate it. Doctors at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee, achieved her survival with an experimental treatment that involved putting the girl into a drug-induced coma, and administering a cocktail of antiviral drugs. Giese had symptoms of full-blown rabies when she sought medical help, thirty-seven days after being bitten by a bat. Her family did not seek treatment at the time because the bat seemed healthy. Jeanna regained her weight, strength, and coordination while in the hospital. She was released from the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin on January 1, 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies_in_animals

 

[DawnCt1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies_in_animals

Yup, and now we know how long you SHOULDN'T wait.

thirty-seven days after being bitten by a bat

 

[barkley]

This is almost exactly what happened to me in May. I had the tiniest little nick on my hand. At lunch I watched as a red welt appeared. I went to ER. In less than 24 hours my hand and arm were swollen just like you described. I was admitted for several days of IV antibiotics.

My doctor told me he had a patient who DIED from a paper cut in less than 48 hours. I was just lucky that I didn't wait to go to ER. My treatment (oral antibiotics first then IV) started with hours.

This happened to me on a Saturday. Had I waited until Monday to go see a doctor the outcome would not have been pretty.

sounds like a friend of mine in highschool. she played electric bass and one day nicked her finger changing one of the strings. was'nt the first time it happened nor would it be the last. she did as she had always done in the past and washed it well then put disinfectant on it. within 24 hours she had a small red line going from the nick up her arm-ended up being a very bad infection that reqired massive antibiotics and a long recovery.

it's scary how fast an infection can spread.

 

[Northstar]

Going back to the original question about whether the critical window for getting rabies vaccine after exposure is hours, or days....

I got curious so I poked around till I found the World Health Organization's fact sheet on rabies... wow, there's a scary document.

But the bright side is, they said that you should begin the vaccine within DAYS of exposure if possible. The closing of the window is when actual symptoms appear.

 

[islandmum]

Only one person has survived rabies EVER. So why would anyone want to sit around and think about it?

more than one person has survived having rabies. Only one person is recorded having survived rabies with NO treatment.

 

[Magpie]

more than one person has survived having rabies. Only one person is recorded having survived rabies with NO treatment.

I think you mean no vaccine, not no treatment.

Before 2005, only 5 people were recorded to have survived rabies after symptoms appeared, and they'd all either been vaccinated previously or shortly after being bit.

In 2005, one person - Jeanna Giese - survived without having been vaccinated, but she was most certainly treated! She was placed in a coma and given a drug cocktail, and her treatment became known as the "Milwaukee protocol". It's not a cure. Of the next 25 patients who were treated with the Milwaukee protocol, only two survived. The protocol was then revised, more patients were treated, and two more are reported to have survived. All four suffered permanent damage to their nervous systems. Jeanna's impairment was comparatively mild and she is currently attending college.

Rabies is still considered 100 percent fatal.

 

[DawnCt1]

I think you mean no vaccine, not no treatment.

Before 2005, only 5 people were recorded to have survived rabies after symptoms appeared, and they'd all either been vaccinated previously or shortly after being bit.

In 2005, one person - Jeanna Giese - survived without having been vaccinated, but she was most certainly treated! She was placed in a coma and given a drug cocktail, and her treatment became known as the "Milwaukee protocol". It's not a cure. Of the next 25 patients who were treated with the Milwaukee protocol, only two survived. The protocol was then revised, more patients were treated, and two more are reported to have survived. All four suffered permanent damage to their nervous systems. Jeanna's impairment was comparatively mild and she is currently attending college.

Rabies is still considered 100 percent fatal.

You are exactly right and for a very long time. And it goes to show that the vaccines aren't always completely effective.