Aishwarya Vaidya
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Written By: Aishwarya Vaidya | Published : September 28, 2018 10:14 AM IST
People should be educated about rabies to prevent it. © Shutterstock
If you stay at a place where there are a lot of stray dogs, beware! If they bite, you may suffer from rabies. Be careful!
Transmitted by an infected animal bite, rabies is a viral disease which can rob your peace. It is called as an RNA virus of the rhabdovirus family. By entering the peripheral nervous system (PNS) it directly and migrates into your brain. It replicates within muscle tissue, where it is protected from your immune system. From there, it goes to your nervous system through the neuromuscular junctions. Then, the virus produces acute inflammation of the brain. After which you can slip into a coma and even lose your life.
It is passed on through saliva and develops if a person gets bitten from an infected animal, or if saliva from an infected animal enters into an open wound or through eyes or mouth. Though, cannot pass through the unbroken skin. The virus can be transmitted by any mammal. But do you know that smaller mammals, such as rodents, rarely become infected or transmit rabies?
It spreads in five stages that are incubation period, prodrome, Acute neurologic period and coma and death. In the incubation period, by the time you will notice symptoms like vomiting and so on, it will become dangerous. During the prodrome stage, you will feel anxious, you will suffer from fever, vomiting, headache, nausea and cough. During the acute neurologic period, you will experience confusion, aggression, insomnia and many more symptoms which can take a toll on your well-being. Eventually, the last stage is coma and you can even lose your life. So, go to the doctor and take a proper treatment along with rabies vaccines and injections.
Here are a few preventive measures which you can follow
See to it that the pets and animals get regular antirabies vaccinations.
Create awareness about rabies in the areas.
Educate people about rabies vaccination to deal with bites.
