October 10, 2008

Medical Mystery: Only One Person Has Survived Rabies without Vaccine--But How?
posted by homunculus 16 years ago
  • By becoming a were-bat?
  • I think you mean Man-Bat. I love that the picture caption specifies that it is an "artist's rendering" and not an actual photo of the Man-Bat.
  • Could it be... A great result from Stochastic Medicine... ?
  • They were already a dog?
  • Beetroot?
  • Not of this Earth?
  • They were so ugly that rabies caught them?
  • MORNINGTON CRESCENT!!!!!
  • That's an amazing story. One of the links went to this story of a girl who died in Connecticutt in 1995 http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/publications/mmwr_4510.html While living in India, rabies was a constant fear. The son of friends died of rabies, an excruciating death. Years after returning West, I was sitting in a bar in Amsterdam, where I had gone to meet an old friend I'd known in India and hadn't seen in decade. When we were talking he thanked me for saving his life. I said how? He said he'd been playing with a drowsy acting puppy and afterward talked with me about it. Apparently, I warned him to get rabies shots (the ones in the stomach), didn't think he'd take me seriously but he did. The puppy died of rabies. He didn't. At least now the vaccine is way easier than before: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel/diseases/rabies.htm What's amazing to me is the last line of the article: "'I'm not scared of them at all," Giese says of bats. "I'm more passionate about animals than I was before. Animals are my happiness and reason for living.'"
  • I remember reading and marveling about Giese when she was recovering. At the time I thought it must just be some fluke of her personal biology, but now that this other girl looks like she may not die it could be a whole new ballgame.
  • Again it may come down to we can, but should we?
  • Yes, interesting. I don't know how to compare it with what I have read though. Source: Bitten P194-495. Pamela Nagami, July, 2004. "The incubation period of rabies ranges from a few days to to over a year, but about three-quarters of patients fall ill within three months after exposure. Rabies begins within a few months of vague, feverish symptoms, as with a cold or flu. About a third of patients then develop a telltale, classic symptom of the diseases, but unusually neither the patient or the doctor realises its terrible significance. This symptom is itching pain, pain, or tingling at the site of of the original and now healed bite. These sensations are the first sign that the the brain is now aware of the deadly invader that has taken hold of the nerve endings, made its slow ascent up the long nerve tails, and begun to multiply in the central nervous system. From this point on to the almost inevitability fatal end, all victims take one of two paths. The majority of humans and most dogs develop agitated (furious) rabies. Paralaytic (dumb) rabies claim the rest. Furious rabies begins with anxiety and a mild sore throat, that over the next few days progresses to hydrophobia. Hydrophobia is an excruciating contraction of the muscles of the throat, which is brought on by the act of swallowing water. After a few days, the sight of a glass of water or even the sound of a faucet being turned on is sufficient to bring on the spasms, which are accompanied by intense terror. In some patients, hydrophobia progresses to aerophobia, in which a draft of air on the skin can induce the contractions. Spasms may spread to the muscles of the torso and mimic tetanus, heaving the patient into an arch supported by his head and heels. In other patients, the the spasms lead to convulsions, during which the patient may be unablåe to breathe or may die of sudden cardiac arrest. Patients then have periods of intense agitation with hallucinations. They may become aggressive or terrified. There are often lucid intervals in which they are orientated, resume their former personalities, and may even apologize for behaviour over which they have no control. However, the rabies virus then travels down the nerve cells of the brain and the spinal cord, and attacks other parts of the nervous system. Soon it spreads to other organs such as the heart. Patients may sweat profusely and cry, secrete copious amounts of black frothy saliva – the dreaded foaming of the mouth. Blood pressure and pulse may fluctuate wildly; body temperature may jump between burning fevers and abnormal coolness. The pupils of the eyes may dilate or contract, either separately or together. Male patients may have painful, persistent erections, and both male and female patients may have spontaneous orgasms. After one or two weeks, the patient slips mercifully into a coma and dies."
  • Wait -- Man-Bat?!? What is that shit? "Man-Bat" ain't no Bat Boy, I'll say that much...
  • Can you imagine the fear and horror of living out in the country 100 years ago, and realizing that you or someone you love has been bitten by a rabid animal? It would be horrific enough now, all our medical support and the ability to relieve pain, with the outcome certain death. I think had I lived then, I'd be tempted to shoot myself or someone I loved had they contracted rabies, rather then letting it run it's full course.