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Dorothy
Brush
"Random Thoughts"
Published Jan. 12, 2005 |
Rabies makes its presence
known again
Seldom do we hear the word hydrophobia these days. In my childhood
that was the preferred word for rabies. This ancient disease
transmitted by a virus attacked the central nervous system. Those
very early people gave it the descriptive name hydrophobia which
means fear of water because in the late stages swallowing becomes
very difficult and even the sight of water brings fear to the
patient.
They were also responsible for associating it with the period
of summer when the dog star Sirius appeared in the heavens and
that time became known as "dog days." It was during
that time of year that dogs were most often struck by the dreaded
disease.
In 1881 Louis Pasteur became interested in the disease and
after much experimenting he made a vaccine which resisted the
onset of rabies once a person had been infected by a bite. The
vaccine had to be injected daily for 7 to 14 days.
Rabies has been in the headlines recently because a 15-year-old
Wisconsin girl is on the road to recovery from the disease. She
is only the sixth person in the world known to have survived
after the onset of symptoms.
Her ordeal began in September when she was bitten by a bat
while in church. She did not seek treatment and in October rabies
symptoms appeared. Two days later she was hospitalized but her
case seemed terminal. Her doctor suggested to her parents he
could try an experimental treatment and they did not hesitate
in giving him permission.
Nearly eleven weeks later she was able to go home and is continuing
physical and occupational therapy to regain strength and coordination.
Her case differs from the other five patients who survived because
they had been vaccinated or received the series of rabies vaccine
before they showed symptoms. She had received no treatment. Studies
are under way to determine if the procedures used by the doctor
should be continued in future cases.
In the United States only a few cases of human rabies are
seen each year but across the world someone dies of rabies every
fifteen minutes on average. I was a student nurse when one of
those few cases of human rabies was admitted to our hospital
in the 1940s. Word spread rapidly throughout the hospital that
a patient in isolation had strange symptoms. His convulsions
could only be controlled by two large male attendants holding
him down. He died a violent death in a short time.
Until an autopsy confirmed the cause of death no one spoke
aloud the word rabies. Once there was no doubt the hospital urged
anyone who felt they needed protection to take the vaccine. I
felt no concern because I had worked on another floor. There
were no new cases.
Word had spread that the pathologist who had done the autopsy
had received a cut on his gloved hand as he examined the brain.
One evening I was assigned to work on an autopsy being done by
this doctor. Some bold person in the room that night asked him
about that frightening mistake. He answered, "I keep a loaded
pistol in my desk and I know the symptoms."
Many years later a child with all the symptoms of rabies was
admitted to that same hospital in Lima, OH and he made headlines
when he became one of the six patients who survived.
· · ·
Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville
Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.
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