The Rabies Vaccine
The rabies vaccine was one of the earliest vaccines invented. Louis Pasteur, the scientist who discovered bacteria and founded modern microbiology, made the first effective rabies vaccine in 1885. When it was first used on a nine-year-old boy who was mauled by a rabid dog, it most likely saved the life of that boy.
Rabies is a very serious infection that you can get from having direct contact with a rabid animal. Contrary to common belief, you do not have to get bitten by a rabid dog to get rabies. In fact, the most common way to catch rabies in the United States is from handling dead bats or from hunting wild animals, including raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. Rodents are almost never the vector for rabies. The virus is present in the saliva of the animal, and direct contact with the saliva or brain tissue is necessary to allow transmission.
Once the rabies virus enters the body through large or even microscopic cuts on the skin, it travels slowly through the nerves all the way to the brain. Once the virus reaches the brain, it is always fatal. So far, no treatment has been proven to be consistently effective in reversing the effect of rabies infection once the virus has invaded the brain.
Essential
In the United States, rabies is almost never transmitted from a pet. Almost all cases of rabies in the United States are contracted from contacts with wild animals, especially bats. Domestic animals tend not to harbor this virus in this country.
Rabies is a serious threat in many Asian and African countries. Dogs remain the primary animal harboring the virus in those parts of the world. Each year, more than 50,000 people die from rabies around the world. After being exposed to the virus, a person becomes alternately agitated and depressed and has difficulty drinking fluid (the well-known “foaming at the mouth” sign). Within a weeks time, the person becomes paranoid and hallucinates. Coma is the last stage, and the victim usually dies shortly after.
The rabies vaccine contains weakened but live rabies virus. More than 1.5 million doses of the vaccine have been administered without the report of any serious side effect. Three doses of the vaccine are recommended for people who work closely with animals and are at high risk for getting bitten by animals. If a person has been bitten by a suspected rabid animal, a total of five doses of the rabies vaccine is recommended. So if a high-risk person has already received three doses of the vaccine before getting bitten, only two more doses are needed.
