![]() 982,729,197 visitors served. |
|
![]() Dictionary/ thesaurus | ![]() Medical dictionary | ![]() Legal dictionary | ![]() Financial dictionary | ![]() Acronyms | ![]() Idioms | ![]() Encyclopedia | ![]() Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
rabies |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.08 sec. |
|
rabies (rā`bēz, ră`–) or hydrophobia (hī'drəfō`bēə), acute viral infection of the central nervous system in dogs, foxes, raccoons, skunks, bats, and other animals, and in humans. The virus is transmitted from an animal to a person, or from one animal to another, via infected saliva, most often by biting but also by the contact of torn skin with infected saliva. The virus travels from the bite or contact location to the spinal cord and brain. In humans the incubation period ranges from 10 days to a year or more. Symptoms are fever, uncontrollable excitement, and pronounced spasms of the throat muscles. Salivation is extreme, and despite great thirst the victim cannot swallow water; hence the misnomer hydrophobia (fear of water). Once symptoms develop, death (caused by convulsions, exhaustion, or paralysis) is usually inevitable.
Following a bite from a rabid or possibly rabid animal, preventive treatment involves administration of immune globulin for passive immunization followed by vaccinations over several weeks for active immunization. The only treatment after symptoms appear is rest and sedation. Dogs have been immunized from the time Louis Pasteur Pasteur, Louis (păstŭr`, Fr. lwē pästör`), 1822–95, French chemist. rabiesAcute, usually fatal infectious disease of warm-blooded animals that attacks the central nervous system. It is spread by contact with an infected animal's saliva, usually from a bite. The rhabdovirus that causes it spreads along nerve tissue from the wound to the brain. Symptoms usually appear four to six weeks later, often beginning with irritability and aggressiveness. Wild animals lose their fear of humans and are easily provoked to bite, as are pets. Depression and paralysis soon follow. Death usually comes three to five days after symptoms begin. In humans, death can result from a seizure in the early phase even before symptoms of central nervous system depression develop. One name for rabies, hydrophobia (“fear of water”), comes from painful throat contraction on trying to swallow. If not treated in time (within a day or two) with a serum containing antibodies and then a series of vaccinations, rabies in humans is almost always fatal. Immediate cleansing of animal bites with soap and water can remove much of the virus. |
|
? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| There are tons of pool photos, interviews with '80s vert dog and break-dancer Lester Kasai and skate rock legends JFA, great pool stories and some skate tips, a park review, old pool ads, product reviews, music reviews, and an interview with a band called the Rabies. To control the Arctic variant of rabies virus in red foxes, 332,257 bait doses containing live, attenuated Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abelseth rabies vaccine were distributed in greater metropolitan Toronto during 1989-1999. And the rumor that all bats have rabies is not true -- less than one-half of one percent of bats carry rabies (99 percent of human deaths due to rabies are due to contact with rabid dogs). |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content NEW! | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|
|---|