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Home :: Family Health :: Rabies Rabies - Rabies symptom, treatment, causes
Rabies is a serious viral disease that affects your central nervous system. It is caused by the rabies virus, which is present in the saliva of infected animals, and is transmitted through infected secretions (usually through the bite of a rabid animal). If a rabid animal bite goes untreated, an infection can develop and lead to brain damage or even death. But if you recognize the warning signs of a rabies infection early and get medical help, your child can make a full recovery. After a bite by a rabid animal, a child may develop a fever, headache, and general malaise. A twitching around the animal bite, a trademark symptom of rabies, may appear in addition to a fever above 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius), agitation, and hallucinations. Your risk of exposure to rabies in the United States is greater when you come into contact with a wild animal. Wild animals are more likely to carry rabies than are domesticated animals. Each year a few people die of rabies in the United States. Most deaths occur because the person didn't seek medical assistance. Treatment consists of treatment to the wound plus a series of rabies shots, which prevent symptoms and death resulting from rabies infection. If you think you've been exposed to an animal with rabies, call your doctor as soon as possible.
Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in mammals. Rabies is a virus that can affect any warm-blooded animal whenever someone is bitten by an animal, the chance of rabies exists. Although the incidence of rabies in humans is low, more than 30,000 people undergo treatment for possible exposure to rabies in the US. The first symptoms of rabies are usually non-specific and suggest involvement of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or central nervous systems. In the acute stage, signs of hyperactivity (furious rabies) or paralysis (dumb rabies) predominate. In both furious and dumb rabies, paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to respiratory failure. For both humans and domestic animals, the primary source of rabies is the bite of a rabid wild animal. The most common of these are skunk, raccoon, bat, and fox. Currently, the number of cats infected with rabies has surpassed that of dogs. The main reasons are that there are now more cats than dogs and cats tend to roam more often.
Causes of Rabies
The common Causes of Rabies :
- Rabies is caused by a virus.
Symptoms of Rabies
Some common Symptoms of Rabies :
- Low-grade fever (102 degrees F or lower).
- Muscle spasms.
- Anxiety, stress, and tension.
- Restlessness.
- Convulsions.
- Numbness and tingling.
- Loss of muscle function.
- Excitability.
- Pain at the site of the bite.
- Positive Babinski's reflex.
Treatment of Rabies
- Animals that have rabies are not treated because they can shed the virus in their saliva for extended periods.
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