Is it true that a mad dog bite will cause the patient to make a barking sound? Is there any cure for this disease?

If you are bitten by a mad dog and don't get vaccinated, the dog will bark and become mad, refusing to recognize people. It will drool like a mad dog, which is terrifying. Is this rumor true? Why is it so? Let's identify them one by one.

To clarify this issue, we need to first understand some common knowledge about rabies.

Causes of rabies

Rabies is an acute infectious disease caused by the rabies virus, which is mainly transmitted through animals biting each other or saliva splashing into the eyes.

All diseases caused by viruses are troublesome because viruses are too small and penetrate into cells to damage them, which makes it difficult for the immune system to identify them. The drugs used to kill the viruses will damage healthy cells, so it is difficult to treat them with drugs. For example, AIDS and the current COVID-19 are both troublesome viruses.

The rabies virus has a strong affinity for nerves. After infection, it will stay locally near the wound for 3 days or longer. It will first infect muscle cells and multiply in small quantities, then invade the human nerve endings, rapidly spread along the nerves, and after reaching the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal nerves, it will begin to multiply in large quantities, then go up and invade the spinal cord medulla oblongata, quickly reach the brain, and invade the brainstem and cerebellum nerve cells.

This disease is a zoonotic infectious disease, and the infected populations mainly include dogs, cats, wolves, skunks, raccoons, vampire bats and other animal families, as well as humans. People are mainly infected by being bitten by dogs or cats or scratched by dogs or cats, and also by the saliva of sick animals splashing into the eyes or nasal cavity, contaminating the conjunctiva and causing infection.

Not all people who are bitten by rabid animals will develop rabies. Generally speaking, the incidence rate for dog bites is 15-20%, and the incidence rate for wolf bites is 50-60%. The factors causing the disease are closely related to the pathogenicity of the virus, the site of the bite, the depth of the bite, the post-bite treatment, and whether the vaccine is administered in time.

The incubation period varies depending on the location of the wound and the extent of the wound damage. Some patients will develop symptoms within a few days, generally 1 to 3 months, and less often more than 1 year, but it may take several years to develop. During the incubation period, there are no symptoms. At the beginning of the attack, there will be discomfort such as headache and fever, anorexia, fatigue and other symptoms, which may be mistaken for diseases such as colds. Most patients will experience pain and itching at the original wound.

Main symptoms

Once rabies breaks out, it develops rapidly and the patient has two typical symptoms: mania and paralysis.

Manic patients will enter an excitement phase in the early stage, which lasts about 1 to 3 days. They are mainly manic and restless, afraid of water and wind, so rabies is also called hydrophobia. At first, they are unwilling to drink water, gradually afraid of drinking water, and then they become very nervous and afraid when they hear the sound of water or even talk about water, which causes severe spasm of the pharynx, difficulty breathing, often accompanied by dehydration and neighing.

Even if the patient is thirsty, he dare not drink water. If he drinks a little, he cannot swallow it due to the spasm of the pharynx. Later, he becomes extremely afraid of light, sound, wind, and touch. These conditions will cause painful convulsions all over the body, respiratory muscle spasms and suffocation. The patient has difficulty defecating and urinating, and drools in the mouth.

Paralytic patients do not have a typical excitement period. The main symptoms at the beginning are high fever, headache, vomiting, and wound pain, followed by weakness of the limbs, abdominal distension, ataxia, muscle paralysis, and incontinence.

The reason for these two manifestations is that in manic patients, the virus attacks the brain stem; while in paralytic patients, the virus mainly attacks the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, but not the brain stem. Therefore, the mental state is different, but the consequences are the same.

In the late stage of rabies, the paralysis stage will occur. At this time, the spasms have stopped and the patient gradually becomes quiet, but there will be slow paralysis, especially limb flaccid paralysis, which is both symmetrical and asymmetrical, and the bitten limb is more serious. The patient's facial muscles, eye muscles, and chewing muscles are out of balance, and there will be strabismus, loss of eye control, mandibular drooping, inability to close the mouth, and expressionless face.

The entire course of the disease lasts about 7 to 10 days, and the final outcome is death. In the terminal stage, breathing is weakened and irregular, blood pressure drops, reflexes disappear, pupils dilate, and finally enters terminal coma and respiratory arrest. The cause of death is mostly suffocation due to pharyngeal muscle spasm or respiratory and circulatory failure.

Are the symptoms of rabies patients barking like a dog and looking like a dog?

Rabies patients mainly suffer from nerve damage, and the most seriously damaged nerves and tissues are the salivary glands, tongue, taste buds, olfactory neuroepithelium, etc. Damage to these nerve nuclei will lead to spasm of the swallowing muscles and laryngeal muscles. During the stage of muscle excitement and spasm, the patient will have difficulty breathing, and a strange hissing sound will come from the throat. Also, when the whole body is spasming and convulsing, the patient will appear to be threatening, with squinting eyes, a drooping jaw, and a hanging tongue.

These symptoms are mainly due to damage to the autonomic nervous system. The patient cannot control fear, fear of water, spasms, convulsions, excessive saliva and drooling, breathing difficulties due to pharyngeal spasms, and some strange noises. Some patients also have hypersexuality, abnormal erections and increased sexual desire, which are also the cause of autonomic nervous system disorders and loss of self-control.

Therefore, rabies patients do not imitate the barking of dogs or behave like dogs, but they just behave like crazy involuntarily. We all know that this disease is caused by dog ​​bites, and when we see these symptoms, we naturally lean towards dogs. This disease can also be contracted by cat bites or cat scratches. If we lean towards this side, we will also behave like cats.

However, dogs and cats usually behave and make completely different sounds, but they can both be followed. This shows that people have preconceived ideas about the matter, which is why they say that dogs bark like dogs.

However, rabies patients can easily hurt others during the manic phase, so they must be immobilized. Medical staff and family members must be careful not to be bitten or contaminated by their saliva. It is best to get a rabies vaccine first, just in case.

Rabies is an incurable disease, how to deal with it?

Rabies is an incurable disease. There is no effective treatment or medicine so far, and the mortality rate is almost 100%. In other words, once rabies breaks out, there is no cure, and the only thing left is to wait for death, and to die in fear and distortion, which is extremely painful and terrifying.

Since it is difficult to treat, the most important way to deal with it is prevention. There are two ways of prevention: active prevention and passive prevention.

Active prevention means taking preventive measures before being bitten by an animal. Of course, the best way is to avoid contact with animals at will and try to eliminate or reduce the chance of being bitten by animals.

If you must come into contact with animals, or in order to avoid being harmed or infected by animals, you should get vaccinated first. Nowadays, pets such as dogs and cats in cities are required to be vaccinated against rabies, which greatly reduces the chance of rabies.

Some people who often come into contact with animals, such as veterinarians, animal husbandry managers, slaughterers, rabies medical staff, rabies virus experiment and vaccine maker personnel, field cave surveyors, children in rabies epidemic areas, postmen, tourists, etc., should get rabies vaccine in advance, just in case.

The so-called passive prevention means that if you have been bitten, scratched or had saliva splashed onto the mucous membranes such as the eyes and nostrils by animals, you should deal with it as soon as possible, the sooner the better, including wound treatment and rabies vaccination.

How to deal with animal injuries

First of all, we must seize the timeliness, that is, the sooner the better. This is because the virus infection and reproduction have a process, and we must seize the golden time to reduce the chance of virus reproduction. The main method is to clean and flush the wound to reduce the virus as much as possible, and then get vaccinated as soon as possible, so that your body can produce antibodies in the golden time of a few days before the virus invades the nerves.

Once you are scratched or bitten by an animal, you should go to the hospital immediately if you are close to the hospital, or simply treat it yourself before going to the hospital. The way to treat it yourself is to rinse and clean the wound, preferably with 3-5% soapy water, the more thoroughly the better. When you arrive at the hospital, the doctor will treat it according to the regulations, so I won't go into details here.

Remember, flushing the wound is of great significance and is an important measure to reduce the degree of infection. Even if the wound has scabs due to delay, the scabs should be removed before flushing. For deep wounds, the syringe should be inserted into the deep part of the wound to flush as thoroughly as possible.

At the same time, you should get the rabies vaccine as soon as possible according to the requirements. At this time, do not hesitate for fear of trouble or money, because this is the only chance to deal with rabies virus and save lives. Rabies vaccine injection is not just a one-shot shot. There are many detailed regulations. You need to get several shots. How to give it depends on the doctor.

For wounds in vital areas (where nerves are concentrated) or deep and severe wounds, rabies serum and rabies immunoglobulin should be injected. These must be strictly followed by the doctor's instructions, so I won't explain them one by one.

Again, prevention is the priority

Although being scratched or bitten by a dog or cat does not necessarily lead to rabies, due to the serious harm of rabies and its 100% mortality rate, once you are injured or contaminated by an animal, no matter what kind of animal it is, you must go to the hospital for treatment and get vaccinated.

Regardless of whether the animal that harmed or contaminated you looks sick or not, you must deal with it. Even if it is only contaminated by saliva, such as being licked, you must clean it immediately and never take it lightly. Because once you are infected with this disease, there is no regret medicine.

For those who are at risk of exposure, prevention must be taken in advance; for your own dogs and cats, you must get rabies vaccinations, this will be more respectful and safer for your own and others' lives.

That's all I have to say. It's up to you whether you listen or not. Welcome to discuss, thank you for reading.

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