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A young Norwegian woman is dead from rabies after a trip to the Philippines. During her trip she felt compelled to rescue a puppy from a ditch and was bitten by it. Her soft heat cost her her life. Rabies is essentially nonexistent in Norway, so it never occurred to her to seek out rabies prophylaxis after the stray puppy she rescued bit her. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.2e05397606e2
Those of us who live in first-world countries (especially ones like the UK which are rabies-free) sometimes don't realize that the disease is endemic throughout most of the world, and in many poorer areas stray dogs and cats are still common vectors. It's easy for those of us who come from places where essentially all the dogs and cats are vaccinated to forget the danger is real. Stay away from stray dogs and cats during your travels as well as wild animals of all kinds, and if you are bitten or scratched seek out medical attention right away! Rabies is essentially 100% fatal, and it's an ugly way to die.
Petting the sweet kitty or the nice stray dog simply isn't worth the risk. Please, don't do it!
The patient had been on a seven-week-long yoga retreat in India just weeks before. “Tour members confirmed that the patient was bitten by a puppy outside her hotel in Rishikesh, India, and that the wound was washed with water, but no further treatment was administered,” Virginia’s state public health veterinarian, Dr. Julia Murphy, and colleagues wrote in their report.
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“On May 7 (2017), she was evaluated at hospital A with shortness of breath, anxiety, insomnia, and difficulty swallowing water. The patient expressed concern about exposure to a toxic substance,” Murphy’s team wrote. “On the evening of May 8, the patient became progressively agitated and combative and was noted to be gasping for air when attempting to drink water. Hospital staff members questioned family about animal exposures, and the patient’s husband reported that she had been bitten on the right hand by a puppy approximately six weeks before symptom onset while touring in India,” the researchers wrote. The difficulty swallowing water, often called hydrophobia, is one of the classic signs of rabies.
Very preventable. Don't pet strays, and if any bite/scratch/lick get the shots.
Even if you were previously immunized against rabies you still need post-exposure booster shots if you’re bitten. Buy the pre-exposure series buys you more time to get them, you don’t need rabies immune globulin injected at the bite site, and the post-exposure series is only 2 shots given 3 days apart. So yes, if you’re going to be traveling to Southeast Asia, India, or Africa (especially if you’ll be in the more rural areas or will be there for more than a week or two), getting the pre-exposure rabies series is a very good idea.
A young Norwegian woman is dead from rabies after a trip to the Philippines. During her trip she felt compelled to rescue a puppy from a ditch and was bitten by it. Her soft heat cost her her life. Rabies is essentially nonexistent in Norway, so it never occurred to her to seek out rabies prophylaxis after the stray puppy she rescued bit her. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.2e05397606e2
Those of us who live in first-world countries (especially ones like the UK which are rabies-free) sometimes don't realize that the disease is endemic throughout most of the world, and in many poorer areas stray dogs and cats are still common vectors. It's easy for those of us who come from places where essentially all the dogs and cats are vaccinated to forget the danger is real. Stay away from stray dogs and cats during your travels as well as wild animals of all kinds, and if you are bitten or scratched seek out medical attention right away! Rabies is essentially 100% fatal, and it's an ugly way to die.
Petting the sweet kitty or the nice stray dog simply isn't worth the risk. Please, don't do it!
Thank you for this very informative post. Although I am well-informed about most things medical, I didn't know that rabies vaccines were available, let alone needed to trips to places such as the Philippines.
Very preventable. Don't pet strays, and if any bite/scratch/lick get the shots.
That's scary; I've been to India several times and my most recent tour involved a lot of time walking around in the cities. Hopefully the tour group leader would have been on the alert if one of us had been bitten by a stray dog- I was very impressed with the tour company- but who knows?
When I went for my malaria pill prescription at the local Travel and Immunization Clinic, one family was there with 3 little boys who were there for preventative rabies shots. They were going to be in Africa for an extended period.
Even better, if you go to a country where rabies is present, get the prophylactic series beforehand (it will make post-exposure shots more pleasant). (You can avoid strays all you like, but once stray dogs get into a pack and feel aggressive, just avoiding seeking to pet may not be enough. I've heard stories.) And don't worry about just the strays-- in some places, it's not a priority to vaccinate pets, either (or, as in Thailand recently, the vaccine may be faulty), and it may not be a priority to train them for manners and sociability.
If you don't know which vaccinations you'll need before going to another country, please visit your local health department/travel clinic or even your own doctor and ask. CDC has recommendations on their website as well.
Leave them alone in first-world countries, too. There are unvaccinated dogs around even in the US.
When I was a teenager, two mangy curs rushed out of a yard at me. I tried to avoid them but one got behind me and bit me, in the street. Turned out it was that dog’s third bite. Animal Control took him away and quarantined him because he had not been vaccinated for rabies. After two weeks during which he did not show signs of rabies, they killed him. A good thing for everybody around. Betcha the other dog was also unvaccinated.
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