While the vaccine against rabies is 100% effective, each year 59,000 people still die from this disease, most often transmitted by a dog bite. WHO has launched an awareness campaign.
“It’s time to act to end rabies.” Today, rabies, one of the oldest diseases in the world, still kills one person every nine minutes around the world. Thus, each year, 59,000 unfortunate people die from this infection, which most often occurs following a dog bite. However, a rabies vaccine exists, proven to be 100% effective, recalls the World Health Organization in a video clip released on the occasion of world rabies day friday september 28.
The rabies virus is present in the saliva of certain animals such as dogs at the end of their illness. Transmission most often occurs after the bite of an infected animal, by scratching or licking on the excoriated skin or on a mucous membrane, explains the Institut Pasteur website which reminds us that human-to-human contamination is exceptional. If not treated immediately, the patient will begin to have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) and develop neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety or agitation after a few days or months of incubation.
A few hours or a few days after the onset of the first symptoms, he will fall into a coma and then most often die from respiratory arrest. Indeed, “the outcome is always fatal when the disease is declared”, explains the Institut Pasteur, recalling however that a young American survived rabies in 2004. “If the survival of this young girl has opened up prospects in terms of treatment, the reason for his survival cannot be attributed to this treatment and remains unknown until today. Indeed, in other continents, no patient treated in the same way has since survived “, notes the Institute.
The disease is most prevalent in Asia and Africa
However, it is very rare for rabies to occur in developed countries. In mainland France, no case of human rabies acquired on French territory has been reported since 1924. But in 2008, a human case was reported in Guyana, probably following a bat bite. As for the last person to die of rabies in France, it is a ten-year-old child, diagnosed in October 2017 following a stay in Sri Lanka.
Because the disease is rife especially in Asia and Africa (99% of deaths occur on these continents). Also, avoid contact with stray animals as much as possible when traveling in endemic areas. Before traveling halfway around the world, most doctors also recommend preventative treatment for rabies. The latter is based on a vaccination consisting of three injections separated by several days. They can be performed by an attending physician, vaccination or in a rabies center (there are 90 in France) and should then be followed by reminders at one year and then every 5 years.
This preventive treatment followed by serological surveillance is also recommended to people professionally exposed to the virus such as veterinarians, renderers, hunters, butchers, taxidermists, game wardens or speleologists.
In the event of exposure, two protocols exist for those who have not been vaccinated
However, if you do any of the trades listed above or travel to an endemic area and get bitten or licked by an animal, don’t panic. Rabies is treatable very well as long as it is taken care of immediately. Rinse and clean your wound with an antiseptic for at least 15 minutes before going to the nearest hospital to get your shot again, the WHO says in its video clip. If you have already been treated in France, the treatment will be simplified: you will receive two doses of the vaccine as a booster. These will be administered the same day and then three days later. You will also not have to resort to immunoglobulins, which are not always available or of good quality abroad and most often very expensive.
If you have not been vaccinated preventively, two protocols are validated by the WHO: the so-called Essen protocol, which requires five injections (D0, D3, D7, D14 and D28) and the 2-1-1 protocol or Zagreb protocol, which requires four injections (2 to D0, 1 to D7 and 1 to D21).
Vaccination in France
Each year, around 17 million people receive treatment after exposure to possibly rabid animals. In 2016 in France, 4,223 people received treatment after exposure. But if we are very informed at home, it is essential to educate the populations living in these endemic areas, recalls the WHO, which wants to eliminate the disease from the surface of the globe by 2030.
“World Rabies Day provides the general public with a platform to inform, engage communities and help endemic countries put in place effective rabies programs. Education is essential to overcome this disease.” , explains the organization.
Finally, last recommendation and not the least: animal prevention. Thus, specialists should vaccinate wild animals in their environment and domestic animals (dogs, cats, ferrets, etc.) as much as possible using a treatment mixed with meatballs, for example. Any unvaccinated domestic animal placed in direct contact with an infected animal must be euthanized as a precautionary principle.
See the WHO video below:
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