Rabies

Rabies is a virus disease with severe injuring of central nervous system (CNS). Is transferred mainly via bite of diseased animals (dog, cat, wolf, rat) when saliva containing virus gets into wound. The virus spreads then by lymphatic ways and partially by blood-vascular system and achieves salivary glands and nerve cells of cerebral cortex, affecting of which causes severe irreversible damage.

Symptoms and course
Incubation period is 15-55 days, but it can last half- year or even more.  The disease has three periods:
1) prodrormal period lasts 1-3 days. It is followed by increase of temperature, depression state, bad sleep, insomnia, feeling of anxiety. Pain of the bite usually feels even after it was skinned.
2) arousal period lasts 4-7 days. It is characterized by hypersensitiveness for sensation of sense organs: bright light and various noises cause cramps of limb muscles. Diseased become aggressive; hallucinations, insanity, feeling of fear appear.
3) period of paralysis of eye-muscles and lower limbs; severe paralytic disorders of breath cause death. General duration of the disease is 5-8 days, in some cases 10-12 days.

Recognition
Here important is presence of bite and getting saliva of the diseased animal on affected skin. One of the main important symptom of the disease is hydrophobia that is characterized by spasm of pharyngal musculature only at sight of water and food what makes it impossible to drink even a glass of water. Also there can be a symptom of aerophobia – muscle cramps that appear at every air motion. Hypersalivation is definitive symptom, in some cases diseased get their saliva leaked out of angles of their mouth.

There is no need in laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis but it is possible to make examination with the newest method of rabis virus antigen detecting by using the footprints from the surface eye membranes.

Treatment
There are no effective methods what makes in majority of cases problematic life saving of the diseased. It is necessary to use nosotropic methods to ease painful condition. Doctors remove motor excitement with alleviant remedies, they remove cramps with muscle relaxant. Breathing problems are compensated with tracheotomy and connection of the diseased to artificial lung.

Preventive Measures
Fighting with rabies among dogs, extermination of vagabond dogs. People bitted with a diseased animal should immediately wash wound with warm boiled water (with or without soap) and to process it with 70% spiritus or iodine alcoholate, and as soon as possible, to go to the doctor to vaccinate. It consists of serum injection or antirabic immunoglobulin and is made deep in the wound and in soft tissues around it. You should know that vaccination is effective just in case when it is made within 14 days from the bite of rabid animal and in case that for that purpose is used hyper-immune vaccine.