questions about rabies?

Question

i got scratches from my dog two weeks ago before he was diagnosed of rabies...but at first i just thought it was just a simple case of poisoning that causes his seizures, so i still kept my dog until yesterday just after another petit seizure attack he's disoriented and jumped off from my fifth floor apartment...it was too late. is it possible that i'm infected even though he licked my face just the day before he died? is it possible that rabies can transfer to humans even before he manifest the early symptoms (like i got scratches two weeks before the symptoms)?

Answer 1

Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures.

It is also possible, but quite rare, that people may get rabies if infectious material from a rabid animal, such as saliva, gets directly into their eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound.

A bite by the animal during the incubation period does not carry a risk of rabies because the virus is not in saliva. Only late in the disease, after the virus has reached the brain and multiplied there to cause an encephalitis (or inflammation of the brain), does the virus move from the brain to the salivary glands and saliva. Also at this time, after the virus has multiplied in the brain, almost all animals begin to show the first signs of rabies. Most of these signs are obvious to even an untrained observer, but within a short period of time, usually within 3 to 5 days, the virus has caused enough damage to the brain that the animal begins to show unmistakable signs of rabies.

Go to your doctor for a blood test to determine if you have been exposed.

Rabies immune globulin and the first dose of rabies vaccine should be given by your health care provider as soon as possible after exposure. Additional doses or rabies vaccine should be given on days 3, 7, 14, and 28 after the first vaccination. Current vaccines are relatively painless and are given in your arm, like a flu or tetanus vaccine.

Answer 2

You've gotten some great information above. I would go get it checked out why chance it? It's best just to go get checked as there is treatment for humans. Worth a trip to the doctor I would say.

I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog. Our pets are a part of our family and to lose your dog in such a way is tragic. I'm sorry for yoru loss. Should you get another dog down the road you would look into vaccines if they are available in your area. The yearly vaccine is well worth preventing this horrific disease.

Answer 3

People usually get get rabies from the bite of a rabid animal. It is also possible, but quite rare, that people may get rabies if infectious material from a rabid animal, such as saliva, gets directly into their eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound.
Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures. Occasionally reports of non-bite exposure are such that postexposure prophylaxis is given.

Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure, but other than laboratory workers, most people are unlikely to encounter an aerosol of rabies virus.

Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces (e.g., guano) of a rabid animal, does not constitute an exposure and is not an indication for prophylaxis.

Answer 4

Your dog couldn't have ben diagnosed with rabies that quickly. In order to be tested for rabies your dogs head would need to have been sent to a lab and tested. it usually takes a couple of days or so for the results to come back.

Answer 5

Any mammal may become infected with the rabies virus and develop symptoms, including humans.

The virus is usually present in the blood and saliva of a symptomatic rabid animal. The route of infection is usually, but not necessarily, by a bite, and in many cases in animals, causes the victim to be exceptionally aggressive, attack without provocation, and exhibit otherwise uncharacteristic behavior.

Transmission has occurred via an aerosol through mucous membranes; transmission in this form may have happened in people exploring caves populated by rabid bats. Transmission between humans is extremely rare, although it can happen through transplant surgery (see below for recent cases), or, even more rarely, through bites or kisses.

After a typical human infection by bite, the virus directly or indirectly enters the peripheral nervous system. It then travels along the nerves towards the central nervous system. During this phase, the virus cannot be easily detected within the host, and vaccination may still confer cell-mediated immunity to preempt symptomatic rabies. Once the virus reaches the brain, it rapidly causes encephalitis and symptoms appear. It may also inflame the spinal cord producing myelitis.

The period between infection and the first flu-like symptoms is normally three to twelve weeks, but can be as long as two years. Soon after, the symptoms expand to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, progressing to delirium. The production of large quantities of saliva and tears coupled with an inability to speak or swallow are typical during the later stages of the disease; this can result in "hydrophobia". Death almost invariably results two to ten days after the first symptoms; the few humans who are known to have survived the disease were all left with severe brain damage, with the recent exception of Jeanna Giese.

There is no known cure for symptomatic rabies, but it can be prevented by vaccination, both in humans and other animals. Virtually every infection with rabies was a death sentence, until Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux developed the first rabies vaccination in 1885. This vaccine was first used on nine-year old boy Joseph Meister (1876-1940), on July 6, 1885, after the boy was mauled by a rabid dog.

Their vaccine consisted of a sample of the virus harvested from infected (and necessarily dead) rabbits, which was weakened by allowing it to dry. Similar nerve tissue-derived vaccines are still used now in some countries, and while they are much cheaper than modern cell culture vaccines, they are not as effective and carry a certain risk of neurological complications.

The human diploid cell rabies vaccine (H.D.C.V.) was started in 1967. Human diploid cell rabies vaccines are made using the attenuated Pitman-Moore L503 strain of the virus. Human diploid cell rabies vaccines have been given to more than 1.5 million humans as of 2006. Newer and less expensive purified chicken embryo cell vaccine, and purified Vero cell rabies vaccine are now available. The purified Vero cell rabies vaccine uses the attenuated Wistar strain of the rabies virus, and uses the Vero cell line as its host.

Go and check urself with a doctor.. As fast as you can.

Answer 6

Oh man Ular what are talking about. GOTO a doctor NOW!

Answer 7

go to the doctor

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_health#Diseases_and_ailments
Try this site:-It is better if you seen a doctor.
Good luck

cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!