Is there a cure for rabies?

Question

So if you get bit by a bat, what are you supposed to do???

Answer 1

Until last year, every known human case of rabies ever contracted in an unimmunized individual has resulted in death. Last year, a child was bitten by a rabid animal (I think a bat), and doctors correctly diagnosed an acute rabies infection. Only a combination of experimental antiviral agents, continuous artificial respiration for weeks and a prolonged medication induced coma resulted in eventual albeit incomplete recovery. This was news enough to report in the New England Journal of Medicine as the first case of rabies to have resulted in survival. Aside from this, if you are bitten by a potentially rabid animal, the only known treatment is rabies immunization and immunoglobilin. The immunoglobulin is used to help quickly develop immunity to the infection prior to the infection reaching the brain while the shots are used to induce an imune response allowing the body to wipe out the virus once the immunoglobilin has been cleared by the body (usually immunoglobulin only lasts about two weeks). If the virus remains in the body and can reach the central nervous system prior to being detroyed by the immune system, then a case of rabies will occur which, almost always is followed by death due to viral encephalitis. The closer the bit is to the brain, the lower the chances that post-exposure immunotherapy will work to kill the developing infection. The virus is thought to travel to the brain via "axonal transport" meaning up the nerve fibers into the spinal cord and then to the brainstem and brain itself. The greater the distance from the brain a bit occurs, the longer the victim has to develop immunity and kill the virus prior to it reaching the brain. A bit on the face usually will respond poorly to immunotherapy (especially the vacine alone without immunoglobulin) while a bit on the ankle has a pretty good chance of responding to therapy and allowing the victum to excape from actually contracting rabies (with rabied being definined are rabid encephalitis - not juse local infection of a nerve by the rabies virus). Did you know that the rabies virus changes the behavior of the host prior to killing the host. The salavation and propensity to bit others by otherwise calm animals is thought to be the result of the rabies virus reprogramming the brain of the victim animal thus allowing the virus to spread to other victums. There is always a polls of mutliple animal types in the US (racoons, bats, foxs, dogs) with active rabies and the CDC monitors the prevalence of the wild infection. Some have suggested doping animal feed with rabies vaccine and dropping it throughtout the US in an attempt to rid the states of this virus. Did you know Hawaii is completely rabies free (as are most small islands) and that is one of the reasons dogs are quaranteened for a few weeks when they arive in Hawaii prior to being released by customs to live on the island.

Answer 2

There is no cure for rabies but if you suspect that you may have been bit by an infected animal, go to the ER right away. They do have a series of shots that will prevent you from getting a full blown case of the virus.

Answer 3

Check webmd.com...but if you got bit by a bat go to the emergency room because you will have to get a rabies shot.

Answer 4

no cure once you have the disease...if you are bitten by an animal that is suspect, you get the Rabies vaccine, a painful series of shots that build immunity to the virus quickly, and you never get the disease.

Answer 5

Get a shot in your stomach that will be very painful. It's nothing serious. most animals can be cured of rabies too unless they die from it.

Answer 6

go to the emergency room right a way to get rabies vaccinations

Answer 7

yes there is a cure... there are rabies shots available... you'll probably need 5 shots in two weeks... just go to your doctor immediately...

Answer 8

There is no cure for rabies.

Answer 9

i pretty sure that there is. If you do get bit by a bat then you will have to get atleast 10 shots.

Answer 10

100% motality.