According to incomplete statistics, about 59,000 people die from rabies every year around the world. It can be said that one person dies from rabies virus every 10 minutes, and the number of animal deaths exceeds 1,000,000. Once symptoms appear, the fatality rate is almost 100%. This data fully explains why people are afraid of the word "rabies".

Rabies/hydrophobia/rabies:

Rabies is an acute direct-contact infectious disease caused by rabies virus that affects humans and all warm-blooded animals (cats, dogs, pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, weasels, bats, etc.). Cats and dogs in particular are highly susceptible. .

It mainly exists in the brain, spinal cord, salivary glands and saliva of the sick person, and is excreted from the body with the saliva. It is mainly infected through the skin and mucous membranes of bites/scratches; it can also be infected through the respiratory tract; it can be infected through wounds licked by patients; people can accidentally eat the meat of sick animals or sick animals cannibalize each other and be infected through the digestive tract; it can also be infected through the digestive tract. Placental vertical transmission.

This disease can occur throughout the year, with a slightly higher incidence in spring and summer. The closer the wound is to the head and forelimbs/the deeper the wound, the higher the incidence (regardless of age/sex). The incubation period varies, with the shortest being 8 days and the longest being several years (World Health Organization research has shown that the longest is 6 years). The disease types are divided into violent type and paralytic type. The onset of symptoms generally does not exceed 6 days.

1. Human infection

· Prodromal period (2-4 days)

Low-grade fever, loss of appetite, nausea, headache, depression (similar to a cold)

More sensitive to sound, light, wind, pain, etc.

There is a tightness in the throat

Numbness, itching, and pain near the wound

· Excitement period (1-3 days)

Highly excited

Extreme fear of water (excessive fear when hearing the sound of water flowing or even mentioning drinking water), fear of wind, and uneasiness

Paroxysmal pharyngeal muscle spasm (rhythmic contraction of the soft palate/pharyngeal constrictor muscles, which in severe cases can cause painful convulsions throughout the body)

· Paralysis period (6-18 hours)

The spasms stopped and gradually became quiet

flaccid paralysis

Strabismus and eye movement disorders

The mandible drops and the mouth cannot be closed

Expressionless

　2. Canine infection

​· Prodromal period (1-2 days)

Depressed, likes to hide in the dark, behaves abnormally

Dilated pupils

Swallowing foreign bodies, dysphagia, increased saliva

Weak hind legs

· Excitement period (2-4 days)

Violent and restless, aggressive

Abnormal reflexes

Laryngeal muscle paralysis

· Paralysis period (1-2 days)

Weight loss

The mandible drops and the mouth cannot be closed

Posterior paralysis and shaky walking

General paralysis and death

3. Cat infection

· Prodromal period (less than 24 hours)

Low fever

Obvious behavioral changes

· Excitement period (1-4 days)

Likes to hide in the dark and attack suddenly when people approach

Dilated pupils

Drooling

Myotremor

· Paralysis period (1-4 days)

Movement disorders (most obvious in hind legs)

Head and neck muscle paralysis, accompanied by hoarse shouts

convulsions, coma and death

Usually, rabies is mostly violent type (the above symptoms), but about 25% of sick cats have paralytic type (also called dumb rabies). This type does not have an excitement period and hydrophobia, but instead presents with high fever, headache, vomiting, and injuries. After the onset of pain, symptoms include weakness of the limbs, muscle paralysis, abdominal distension, incontinence of urine and feces, etc., and finally death due to respiratory muscle paralysis, which usually lasts for several hours or 1-2 days.

What should a person do after being bitten?

1. Wound cleaning

· Clean the wound with 20% soapy water/weak alkaline detergent

· Rinse with clean water

· Repeat cleaning and rinsing for no less than 20 minutes

· Use 2%-5% iodine and 75% ethanol to wipe the wound and perform local disinfection

　2. Vaccination

· Active immunity

The 2-1-1 vaccination procedure has a total of 4 shots, two shots (one shot in each arm on the left and right arms) on the first day (counted from the day of vaccination), one shot each on the 8th day and the 22nd day; the doses for adults and children are the same. In China, the doses are basically the same. The 2-1-1 vaccination procedure is mostly used.

5-injection program, one injection each on day 1 (counted from the day of vaccination), 4, 8, 15, and 29 days. The doses for adults and children are the same.

· Passive immunity

For patients whose bite site is the head/large-area bite, the vaccine (2-1-1 or 5-shot method) is injected on the day of injury and rabies antiserum (40Iu/kg)/rabies immune globulin is also required. (20IU/body weight) is used for infiltration injection and intramuscular injection into the wound to neutralize rabies virus to obtain rapid protection.

Note: It is usually recommended to inject immune globulin, which has homogeneous sources, no allergic reactions, high stability, and no other reactions except occasional local pain and low fever, but is more expensive; antiserum is a heterogeneous serum, and in order to avoid If there is an allergic reaction, a skin test will usually be done before injection. If it is positive, it is recommended to use desensitization therapy to inject small amounts and multiple times, but it takes a long time and may cause serum sickness and other side effects.

Although there is no research showing that "the vaccine must be vaccinated within 24 or 48 hours after being bitten/scratch, otherwise it will be ineffective.

"" remarks, but in principle, the earlier the vaccination, the better the preventive effect.

What should I do if my cat or dog is bitten?

Treat the wound in a timely manner (the same as for humans) and send it to the hospital immediately for vaccination (vaccination for cats and dogs in my country includes a-G strain primary hamster kidney attenuated adjuvant vaccine, sheep brain attenuated live vaccine and Flury virus LEP strain) BHK-21 cell-cultured attenuated vaccine, the immunity period is more than 1 year), and sufficient vaccination must be ensured throughout the entire process. After the vaccination is completed, the serum should be tested to see whether antibodies are produced. If no antibodies are produced/the antibody titer is too low, vaccination should be continued. .

1. Bite near the head/large area

After confirming that the rabies immune serum skin test is negative, immediately perform infiltration injection around the wound for emergency passive immunization, which must be performed before the wound is sutured; and then follow the immunization schedule for rabies vaccination.

2. Pet patients with serious wounds

To prevent secondary infection, penicillin, streptomycin, and cephalosporin antibiotics can be used for intramuscular injection or slow intravenous infusion.

3. Pet patients with serious post-injury complications

Provide supportive/symptomatic treatment. For those with pain and uneasiness, sedatives and analgesics can be given; for those with persistent vomiting, antiemetics can be given; for those with loss of appetite, glucose preparations, energy mixtures, multivitamins and other drugs can be given.

Pets that are bitten need to be strictly monitored (isolated for at least 6 months) to prevent the infection from spreading again. Once rabies infection is confirmed, euthanasia must be carried out immediately and the body cremated/deeply buried.

Note:

· Children who are about to receive the vaccine can also receive the rabies vaccine normally, but the rabies vaccine should be given priority.

· Pregnant women can also receive the rabies vaccine, which will not affect the pregnant woman/fetus. The inactivated virus cannot pass through the placental barrier (domestic and foreign studies have not found miscarriage/premature birth/fetal malformation caused by rabies vaccine).

· Even if pets are vaccinated against rabies on time every year, the protection rate of the vaccine is not 100%, so they still need to be vaccinated after being bitten.

· If you are bitten again by an animal during the rabies vaccination period, you can continue to complete the vaccination according to the original procedure without increasing the dose; if you are bitten again within six months after being fully vaccinated, you do not need to be vaccinated again; if you are bitten again within half a year to one year after being fully vaccinated If you are injured, you should get one shot of vaccine on the 1st day (the day of vaccination) and the 4th day; if you are bitten again within 1 to 3 years after being fully vaccinated, you should get 1 shot each on the 1st, 5th, and 8th day; after 3 years, all the vaccines should be Re-vaccination.

· Even if research shows that mixing vaccines of different brands will not affect their preventive effect, it is still recommended to use the same brand of vaccines whenever possible.

· If the vaccine is not injected according to the procedure and is later than the injection time, there is no need to re-vacculate, but the process time needs to be adjusted.

· Animals are not born with rabies virus, they need to be transmitted from other sick animals.

· Failure to seek medical treatment in time after injury, irregular wound treatment, substandard vaccine quality, failure to complete vaccination, and poor immunity of the body will all lead to the phenomenon that the disease will still occur after vaccination.

· The so-called "ten-day observation method" only applies to domestic pets (and must be vaccinated against rabies for more than two years); the injury is minor (the wound is located far away from the head)premise, and vaccination is still required during the observation period. If the biting animal does not become sick and die within 10 days, the vaccination can be terminated (but it is recommended to complete the vaccination).