Rabies Lurking Recognize the Symptoms

Rabies Lurking

Recognize the Symptoms

Recently, cases of rabies are increasing, 95% of cases of rabies in humans are obtained through the bite of an infected dog. There are also various wild animals that act as virus reservoirs on various continents such as foxes, raccoons and bats, but 95% are due to dog bites.

As of April 2023, there have been 31,113 cases of bites by rabies-transmitting animals, 23,211 cases of bites that have received anti-rabies vaccines, and 11 cases of death in Indonesia. Currently, there are 26 provinces that are endemic to rabies, but only 11 provinces that are free of rabies, namely the Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, DI Yogyakarta, East Java, West Papua, Papua, South Papua, Central Papua and Highlands Papua.

Rabies is a viral infection of the brain and nervous system. The virus that causes rabies is generally transmitted to humans through animal bites. If not treated quickly, rabies can cause death.

In Indonesia, rabies or what is known as "mad dog disease" is still a problem that threatens public health. However, this disease can be prevented by vaccinating pets

Symptoms of Rabies

The appearance of rabies symptoms can vary widely, between 5 days to about 1 year. However, the symptoms of this disease generally appear 30–90 days after the patient is bitten by an infected animal. Symptoms of rabies can appear more quickly if the location of the animal's bite or scratch is close to the brain, for example on the chest, neck or head.

Early symptoms that can appear include:

• Fever or chills

• Tingling

• Headache

• Fatigue or weakness

• Loss of appetite

After that, there are several further complaints that can be experienced by people with rabies, such as muscle cramps, shortness of breath, hallucinations and coma. These advanced symptoms indicate that the patient's condition is getting worse.

One of the symptoms of rabies that makes it difficult for sufferers to cure is fear of water or hydrophobia. Why is that? Rabies affects the part of the brain that controls speech, swallowing and breathing. The influence of this virus can change the process of producing saliva and cause painful muscle spasms and make it difficult for sufferers to swallow.

The rabies virus multiplies in saliva. Swallowing reduces the spread of the virus. Therefore, the rabies virus acts immediately to make its victim produce more saliva and spread the saliva around instead of swallowing it. This difficulty swallowing can also make the patient afraid of water. In fact, animals infected with rabies can be afraid of water or food.

In other words, rabies patients experience hydrophobia or fear of water because of the excruciating pain when swallowing liquids, including water.

Prevention of rabies

To prevent rabies, if you keep animals, such as cats or dogs, make sure the animals get routine rabies vaccinations. It is necessary to prevent pets from being outside the home so that they do not have direct contact with wild animals that are exposed to rabies.

Seeing the very fatal effects of rabies, you must immediately take preventive measures. If you have been bitten or scratched by a wild animal, you must immediately wash the wound first with soap and water.

After that, you must immediately seek medical help because rabies can be a fatal disease and must be treated with medical urgency. Treatment of rabies with anti-rabies vaccine and anti-rabies serum can help slow the effects of the viral infection so it doesn't lead to death.

To note, after being exposed to the rabies virus, sufferers sometimes do not immediately feel the symptoms of the disease. Symptoms of rabies can appear within 4 weeks to 2 years (usually 3-8 weeks) after the virus enters the body and multiplies and infects the sufferer.