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Seek medical care if bitten
by potentially rabid animals
Rabies is not something most American
families worry about. Our dogs and cats receive routine vaccinations.
Preventive treatment for people bitten by wild animals is safe
and effective.
But the case of a Wisconsin girl who
nearly died last year after being bitten by a bat underscores
the need to be aware of rabies prevention. The teen picked up
the ill animal after finding it inside her church. She sought
no treatment after the exposure and would have died if not for
an experimental procedure developed by an infectious disease
specialist. She is the only person ever to survive rabies without
getting the shots.
Here is what parents need to know
about rabies:
- Rabies, a disease that attacks the
nervous system, is caused by a virus. In the United States, the
most common carriers of this virus are bats, skunks, coyotes,
foxes and raccoons. In the Third World, dogs pose the biggest
rabies threat.
- Keeping pets vaccinated and teaching
children to respect wildlife are the keys to rabies prevention.
Children should be instructed to never approach ill or strange-acting
animals. Bats, especially those found in your home or on the
lawn, should never be handled.
- A person who has been bitten by a potentially
rabid animal should wash the wound with soap and water and seek
immediate medical care. In the United States, treatment consists
of one dose of rabies immune globulin and five doses of rabies
vaccine.
- Rabies shots are relatively painless,
but you need to act right away. The incubation period for rabies
typically is four to six weeks. But once symptoms set in, the
disease is nearly 100% fatal.
- Although rabies is uncommon in dogs,
cats and ferrets, any domestic animal that bites a person should
be confined by its owner for 10 days and observed. If the animal
becomes ill, it should be evaluated for rabies and the person
who was bitten should seek medical advice about the need for
treatment.
- Families traveling to developing areas
of Africa, Asia or Latin America should consult with a doctor
about whether to receive pre-exposure vaccination against rabies.
-Deborah Johnson
-2005 American Academy of Pediatrics, November of 2005 |
