World Rabies Day : Know About Rabies

28th September of every year is celebrated as World Rabies Day. The day was setup in the year 2007. The day is dedicated to spread the awareness, prevent and control the spread of the disease. It’s a step forward to unite the world in the fight against the life risking disease, Rabies. Every year the day is followed by a specific theme and this year the theme for the day is "Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate."

Rabies is a lethal disease which affects the brain and thus causes thousands of deaths every year. It is viral disease which is caused by the virus named lyssavirus. In this disease the virus gets transmitted from animals to human beings either through wounds or scratches or with direct contact. Once the human skin or muscles gets in contact with the virus, it develops and reaches towards the spinal cord and brain, affecting brain and its functioning.

Every year, on an average 59,000 people dies due to rabies in the world, among which 90% of deaths occurs in children living in the rural areas of Africa and Asia. In India, the death ranges from 18,000 to 20,000 every year. Nearly about 36% of death percentage consists of children all across the world because of lack of medical facilities.

Rabies is present in two ways: Dumb rabies (also known as paralytic rabies) and furious rabies.

Dumb Rabies: In dumb rabies, the virus travels through motor nerves further vandalizing the function of the nerves and later leading to slow progression from muscle paralysis to coma. Dumb rabies consists 30% of rabies cases worldwide.

Furious Rabies: this form of rabies is far more common and is also known by hyperactivity and agitation as described by its victims. In this the virus travels from the nerve endings, along with the spinal cord and later reaches to the brain. The symptoms of furious rabies appear sooner in comparison of that of dumb rabies. Furious rabies initially starts with fever, headache and a tingling sensation on the wound site. In severe cases the patients gets aggressive, they start hallucinating, and at times develops a fear of water. This happens because rabies leads to agonizing muscle spasms in the throat and larynx and the water can trigger the spasms. Blocked airways, seizures or widespread paralysis can leads to death also.

There are certain symptoms which a person might experience confirm the presence of disease. The symptoms are as follow:

Immense pain or itching at the site of the wound

High fever

Headache which might last for 2-4 days

Hydrophobia (fear from water)

Hallucinations

Change in the behavior

Intolerance to bright light or noise

Though rabies is life threatening disease but still it is 100% vaccine preventable disease. There are certain steps that one can follow in order to prevent the disease:

Awareness should be created regarding to the disease, especially among children

Unnecessary contact with the stray animals should be avoided

Stray dogs as well as pet dogs should be vaccinated regularly

Immediate doctor consultation is important for anti-rabies vaccine in case of animal bite.

Keeping the mortality of the disease in our mind, let’s all step forward and join the global fight against rabies on this World Rabies Day and contribute our part in eliminating this unguarded disease.

In case you develop any wound or scratches from the pets or street animals, kindly consult the doctor immediately. Metro Group of Hospitals is fully equipped with the emergency and vaccination facilities. Also the doctors here are very trained to deal with such kind of problems.

Metro Hospital is one of the best heart hospitals in Noida, Delhi NCR, with multispecialty service followed by the world best doctors and infrastructure in India.