If there was a list of the worst diseases you might catch, rabies would probably rank high. From its mode of transmission to its dangerousness through its symptoms, rabies is quite simply one of the worst crap existing on this Earth. But since the only representation we have of it is usually that of an aggressive dog with drool on its lips, we will explain to you what rabies is and how scary it is.
It’s a bit of a zombie disease
Rabies is a disease transmitted mainly by animals, and more specifically by their saliva. Basically, an animal (most often a dog, but it can also be a bat) bites you, and its saliva contaminates you by coming into contact with your blood. In absolute terms, it might also work from one human to another, but in practice it almost never happens. Nevertheless, all this gives a not very happy “zombie contamination” side, and the symptoms also go in this direction (we’ll tell you regarding it a little below).
The incubation period lasts from a few days to a few months
All the while, you don’t even know you’re sick. Great.
Rabies is always fatal once the first symptoms have appeared
So. This is one of the most frightening aspects of this disease: there is no way to cure it. There is indeed a preventive treatment (we talk regarding it at the bottom), but none effective once the disease has declared itself. There are very few survivors, but their case might not be used to create a cure. It is believed that they were especially lucky to have a very strong immune system and to have been infected with a weak form of the disease. What a big stroke of luck.
The first symptom is swearing
The rabies virus is a neurotropic. That means it infects the nervous system and changes how it works. And the first signs of this brain infection are headaches (that’s the medical term for a headache), fever and malaise. Nothing very original, of course, but the sequence of events is even less nice.
Then the patient has difficulty swallowing and breathing
As the disease progresses, it affects areas of the brain that control the muscles of swallowing and breathing. As a result, the patient can no longer eat, drink and breathe properly. Something as simple as eating quickly becomes a real ordeal.
At the same time, the patient begins to become agitated
He becomes anxious and irritable, even aggressive. This is where the more common image of rabies comes from, with agitated patients trying to attack other people. We told you that rabies was a zombie disease.
Sometimes the patient develops a phobia of water
He suffers from hydrophobia: involuntary spasms of the muscles of the neck and the diaphragm as soon as he sees water or tries to swallow it. In addition to that, as soon as water comes into contact with his skin, he feels a burning sensation. It’s just awful.
Finally, the patient falls into a coma and dies
At the end, the patient goes through long periods of confusion and hallucinations which are alternated with rare moments of lucidity (which must be terrible for him). During all this time, he often drools continuously, which is not just a cliché regarding rage. All this inevitably ends in a coma, then death.
Every year, tens of thousands of humans still die of rabies
There are nearly 60,000 deaths per year in the world, mainly in Africa and Asia where there are not as many prevention and anti-rabies centers as on the other continents. It’s always too much, especially when you know that a vaccine exists.
There was a case in France a few years ago
Normally, in France – and in a good part of Europe – rabies has been eradicated for a long time. However, in August 2019, a patient was contaminated by a bat. Well, it was the first case on the territory since 1924, but still, it’s a little freaking out.
(Bonus) Fortunately, preventive treatments exist
We mightn’t just throw horrible news at you without doing a bit of prevention, so here’s some: yes, you can get vaccinated once morest rabies, and even at the last minute (phew). Thanks to our good old Pasteur, we have an effective vaccine which has the particularity of acting faster than the incubation period of the virus. Concretely, this means that if tomorrow you are bitten by a rabid dog, you can go to the nearest anti-rabies center to receive an injection which will act quickly enough to stop the virus. For more information, we refer you to Pasteur.
