"Citizens who keep dogs should be careful. A woman who lives in Hejiatu was bitten by her own dog. As a result, she developed rabies and was sent to the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital..." In the past two days, such a news...
"Citizens who keep dogs should be careful. A woman who lives in Hejiatu was bitten by her own dog. As a result, she developed rabies and was sent to the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital..." In the past two days, such a news has been circulated in many people's WeChat Moments, causing panic. On July 19, reporters learned from the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention that this news was a rumor and that the woman did not suffer from rabies.
According to Huang Lei, director of the emergency department of the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the woman is 23 years old and lives in Lusong District. At about 3 pm on July 17, the woman became manic and aggressive after an argument with her family. She was subsequently sent to the hospital for treatment.
Because the woman had a dog at home, some citizens soon speculated that she had rabies.
"She did not show the typical symptoms of rabies such as photophobia, water fear, and wind fear. She just talked nonsense and had some aggressive behaviors." Huang Lei said that after careful examination, they ruled out the possibility that the woman had rabies. Currently, the woman is undergoing other examinations in the hospital to determine whether it was caused by mental factors.
"This is a rumor, and citizens can rest assured." The person in charge of the emergency communication department of the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that they have not received reports of rabies cases yet.
The person in charge reminded that rabies is the zoonotic infectious disease with the highest fatality rate known to mankind. There is currently no effective treatment, and once it develops, 100% of the patients will die. Whether citizens are bitten or scratched by cats or dogs, or have broken skin licked by pets, they must clean the wounds properly and go to designated outpatient clinics for wound treatment and rabies vaccination.
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Common misunderstandings about rabies
Myth 1: The incubation period of rabies lasts for decades
The incubation period of rabies is generally 1-3 months, ranging from less than a week to more than 1 year, but it is very rare for the incubation period to be as long as ten or twenty years.
The infection rate after being bitten is 40%-50%. If the person bitten is weak, the incubation period may be shorter. Once a person becomes ill, the duration of the disease does not exceed 10 days, and the mortality rate is as high as 100%.
Myth 2: There is no need to vaccinate pets if they are not bitten.
Most pet owners will only get vaccinated after being injured by an animal. It is recommended that rabies vaccination be administered before secondary exposure for prevention and protection. Prevent yourself from being accidentally scratched or bitten and contracting the virus without knowing it.
Some people sleep with or even kiss cats and dogs, and are often woken up by cats or dogs in the morning. These are very dangerous. If the human mucous membrane comes into contact with the saliva of a pet, regardless of whether there are wounds on the mucous membrane, it is the third degree of exposure, as is the sight of blood after a scratch or bite, and the rabies vaccine must be injected.
Myth 3: There is no need to vaccinate once.
Treatment after re-exposure: Those who are exposed again within six months after full vaccination generally do not need to be vaccinated again; those who are exposed again within six months to one year after full vaccination should receive one dose of vaccine on days 0 and 3; those who are exposed again within 1-3 years should receive one dose of vaccine on days 0, 3, and 7; those who are more than 3 years old should be fully vaccinated.
