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ABC Medical Center > Rabies

What is Rabies?

21:55 - 4 May , 2021

Disease

It is a viral disease with deadly consequences that is transmitted through the saliva of sick animals, whether domestic or wild, that bite humans, mainly dogs, cats, ferrets, bats, and other mammals.

It is important to apply the rabies vaccine to domestic animals and also as prevention in humans if there is a risk of contracting it since once the symptoms appear, there is no treatment that can prevent the fatal outcome.

Signs and symptoms Rabies

It is characterized by:

  • Swallowing problems.
  • Excess saliva.
  • Hydrophobia (fear of water).
  • High temperature.
  • Nervousness.
  • Anxiety episodes.
  • Confusion.
  • Hallucinogenic periods.
  • Inability to fall asleep.
  • Paralysis.
  • Migraine.
  • Dizziness.
  • Nausea.
  • Vomit.

If you are bitten by an animal, see your doctor immediately, as there is a possibility that you may contract rabies, so you should receive anti-rabies treatment to prevent it.   Any mammal can transmit rabies, the most frequent being:

Pets:

  • Dog.
  • Cat.
  • Ferret.
  • Hamster.

Country animals:

  • Cow.
  • Goat.
  • Horse.
  • Sheep.

Wild animals:

  • Monkey.
  • Raccoon.
  • Bat.
  • Coyote.
  • Fox.

Diagnosis and treatment Rabies

When you are bitten by an animal, you will hardly be able to corroborate if it had rabies unless they perform tests on the animal; but if your doctor believes that there is a risk that you may have been infected, you should receive a treatment that prevents the infection from growing and spreading through your body.

The treatment includes rabies immunoglobulin injected into the area of the bite to prevent infection, and a series of rabies vaccines for 15 days so that the immune system identifies the virus and creates the necessary defenses to fight it.

At the ABC Medical Center Internal Medicine Department we offer health care services with the highest quality and safety, from prevention, diagnosis, timely treatment, and monitoring of infectious, respiratory, endocrinological, dermatological, rheumatic, nephrological, gastrointestinal, and hematological pathologies, of chronic-degenerative diseases and acute conditions, through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary model.

Related centers and departments

Internal medicine
High Specialty Surgery Center
Radiology and Molecular Imaging
Clinical Laboratory

Fuentes:

  • who.int
  • mayoclinic.org
  • medlineplus.gov
  • cdc.gov
  • topdoctors.es
  • medigraphic.com
  • López SDI, Caballero BJA, Díaz DAA, et al. Fundamentos teóricos del desempeño de los médicos y enfermeros en el manejo de la Rabia. AMC. 2018;22(4):486-499.
  • Hernández DPA, Caballero CC, Rodríguez HF, et al. Algunos aspectos clínicos y epidemiológicos relacionados con mordeduras de perro en niños . Rev Cubana Med Trop. 2020;72(1):1-15.
  • Torres MBB, Domínguez MY, Rodríguez NJA. La rabia como enfermedad re-emergente. Medicentro. 2019;23(3):238-248.
  • Ortega PA, Jiménez CM. La rabia canina, una zoonosis latente en Yucatán. Rev Biomed. 2017;28(2):61-63.

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					The dissemination of the content of this material is for informational purposes only and does not replace, under any circumstance or condition, a consultation with a specialist doctor, for which the ABC Medical Center is not responsible for the different use that may be given to it. If you require more information related to the subject, we suggest you contact the specialist doctor you trust directly.