Prevention and treatment of rabies

In my country, dogs are the animals most likely to spread rabies, accounting for about 90%, followed by cats, accounting for about 5%. Birds, fish, insects, lizards, turtles and snakes are not mammals and will not be infected or spread rabies.

Rabies is a very serious disease. If a person infected with rabies does not receive proper treatment before symptoms begin, the mortality rate is almost 100%. So how can we prevent and treat rabies correctly and effectively?

The best way to prevent rabies is to stay away from

Rabid animals behave strangely, such as attacking people and other animals for no reason, some animals that are seen during the day when you go out at night, including bats, raccoons, etc. We should stay away from these animals as much as possible.

If you have a pet, you should vaccinate your pet against rabies in time and avoid close contact, especially if there are wounds, you should avoid contact with the pet's saliva.

What should you do if you are touched, scratched, or bitten by a rabid animal, a suspected rabid animal, or an animal whose rabies status is uncertain?

l If the exposed skin is bitten lightly or scratched or abraded lightly without bleeding, first carefully observe the exposed skin with the naked eye to see if there is any damage. If it is difficult to judge with the naked eye, wipe the exposed area with alcohol. If there is pain, it indicates that the skin is damaged (this method is only suitable for testing at the time of injury).

In this case, the wound should be treated immediately, as follows:

① Wound flushing: Use soapy water (or other weak alkaline cleaning agents) and running water with a certain pressure to alternately clean each bite and scratch wound for at least 15 minutes. If conditions permit, it is recommended to use rabies professional cleaning equipment and special cleaning agents to flush the inside of the wound. Finally, flush the wound with saline to avoid soap or other cleaning agent residues.

②Disinfection: After thorough rinsing, apply diluted iodine (0.025% to 0.05%), benzalkonium chloride (0.005% to 0.01%) or other skin and mucous membrane disinfectants with virus inactivation effect to disinfect or disinfect the inside of the wound. And get rabies vaccination as soon as possible according to relevant regulations.

If there are single or multiple bites or scratches that penetrate the skin, licking of broken skin, open wounds or mucous membranes contaminated by saliva, etc., the wound should be treated immediately and the person should go to the nearest medical institution as soon as possible to use rabies passive immunization preparations and receive rabies vaccine.

What are the possible adverse reactions after rabies vaccination?

l Within 24 hours after rabies vaccination, redness, swelling, pain, and itching may occur at the injection site, which generally resolves on its own without treatment;

l There may be mild fever, weakness, headache, dizziness, joint pain, muscle pain, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc., which generally disappear on their own without treatment;

l In rare cases, moderate or above fever occurs, antipyretic analgesics may be used if necessary;

l Urticaria may also occur within 72 hours after vaccination. If a reaction occurs, you should go to the hospital in time for treatment with antihistamines;

l In extremely special circumstances, anaphylactic shock may occur, which usually occurs within a few minutes to ten minutes after the vaccine is injected. Symptoms include rapid onset of skin congestion, flushing, and itching. You should seek treatment at the nearest medical institution with emergency medical facilities as soon as possible.

References

Technical Guidelines for Rabies Prevention and Control (2016 Edition)