Rabies vaccine

In 99% of cases, a person gets this infection from a bite or scratch from a rabid dog.

Other animals that may spread the disease are rabid bats, foxes, cats, raccoons, ferrets, monkeys, and skunks. Rarely, rabies may be transmitted when a rabid animal’s saliva makes contact with a person’s mucosa or the open wound.

Risky areas

Almost all human rabies cases (95%) are reported in Africa and Asia, where the disease continues to be a public health issue. However, rabies also occurs in Central and South America and Eastern Europe.

Risky activities

• Engaging in outdoor activities (camping, caving, biking)
• Being a veterinarian or wildlife professional
• Staying in a high-risk region for a long time

The first symptoms of rabies usually occur between seven days and one year after exposure (in the majority of cases, two to three months). This depends on the location and severity of the bite and the immune status of the bitten person.

Rabies is an extremely dangerous infection. It affects the nervous system of an infected person and requires urgent medical care. Without post-exposure prophylaxis, all infected people will start to develop rabies-related signs and symptoms once the incubation period ends. Rabies has two forms: furious and paralytic. Once the symptoms occur, death will occur in almost 100% of cases.

No symptoms

Only during the incubation period will there be no symptoms.

Furious form

About 80% of people tested positive for rabies will have the furious form of the disease and will develop signs of hyperactivity:

• Excitable behavior
• Fear of water
• Fear of fresh air
• Insomnia
• Hallucinations
• Anxiety

Paralytic form

The rest of rabies-positive people (about 20%) will have a paralytic form of the disease, which progresses more slowly but is still fatal. First, the muscles of an infected person become paralyzed (beginning in the affected area and proceeding to other muscles). Respiratory failure then develops, leading to a coma and eventually death.

Duration of symptoms

Rabies is a deadly infection. With the furious form of the disease, a patient will die within a few days. Patients with the paralytic form may survive a little longer. In almost 100% of cases, death is inevitable if a person has symptoms of rabies.
Only 20 people have survived rabies after they developed rabies-related symptoms. Most of them received pre-exposure and/or post-exposure prophylaxis.

The treatment of rabies should be started right after exposure. The treatment is rabies vaccines (booster vaccination with two doses of the rabies vaccine if the patient was previously vaccinated and four doses if not) and rabies immune globulin (if the patient was not previously vaccinated) given on the same day as the possible exposure.
Tables below show the differences in post-exposure vaccination between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Previously Vaccinated Persons

Persons Who Have Not Been Vaccinated against Rabies

Also, the bite wound should be aggressively washed with soap and then detergents (iodine) should be applied. Without rabies post-exposure treatment, a person will die in almost 100% of cases.

To help you to make a final decision about getting a yellow fever vaccination, we’ve tried to summarize the possible scenarios below.

Though the rabies vaccination [4] Rabies Vaccine for Travel: What You Need to Know https://www.uhhospitals.org/services/travel-medicine-services/vaccines/rabies has advantages (no need to get immune globulin, which might not be available in high-risk areas, after exposure; two shots of post-exposure vaccine instead of four), some people will refuse to get it. In that event, it is essential to prevent this infection via other preventive measures.
Remember: rabies is a deadly disease.