Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: JB73 on October 21, 2004, 09:15:47 AM
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Rabies confirmed in Fond du Lac County teen hurt by bat
By KAWANZA L. GRIFFIN
kgriffin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 20, 2004
A Fond du Lac County teenager has become the second person in four years to contract rabies in Wisconsin, state health officials confirmed Wednesday.
Rabies History
The last confirmed case in Wisconsin was in 2000 - the first in 41 years - and resulted from a bat bite.
On The Web
Rabies: National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Test results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta indicate that the youth was infected with a type of rabies virus found in bats. The teen reported being superficially scratched or bitten by a bat at church in September after picking it up by its wings, and indicated that the wound had been thoroughly washed after the incident.
Though there were no immediate signs of harm, the youth was hospitalized Oct. 15, complaining of classic symptoms associated with the illness.
According to the CDC, early symptoms in humans include fever, headache and general malaise, but as the disease progresses, neurological symptoms appear and may include insomnia, anxiety, confusion, slight or partial paralysis, hallucinations and difficulty swallowing.
The teen was diagnosed with rabies on Tuesday, based on the reported bat bite and results from neurological tests, said Jim Kazmierczak, state public health veterinarian.
The teen, whose family requested that no other information be released, remains hospitalized.
Rabies is a potentially fatal viral disease that is usually transmitted through a bite from an infected animal. The disease is preventable if a person gets medical treatment after rabies exposure but before symptoms begin.
The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 a year at the turn of the 20th century to one or two per year in the 1990s, the CDC says.
"With the rare exception of tissue transplants, person-to-person transmission of rabies has never been documented," Kazmierczak said.
He said that the state Division of Public Health is working with the Fond du Lac County Health Department and local health care providers to assess the risk to any of the patient's contacts. Anyone believed to have had a significant exposure may need to receive preventive treatment for rabies.
The last confirmed case in Wisconsin was in 2000 - the first in 41 years - and resulted from a bat bite.
That year, a 69-year-old Sauk County man died of rabies after being admitted to the hospital on Oct. 14 with complaints of headache and general discomfort. Two days later, he was transferred to the intensive care unit with a diagnosis of suspected herpetic encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.
Officials diagnosed rabies after his death on Nov. 1.
"Bat bites are certainly very vexing, and some people may not notice when they get them," said epidemiologist Jeffrey Davis, the state's chief medical officer.
"If there's virus in the saliva and there's a bite, then transmission can occur," he said.
To help minimize the spread of the disease, public health officials recommend that people keep their pets immunized, and avoid contact with all wild animals. If you are bitten, wash the area with plenty of soap and water and contact a health care provider and your local health department immediately.
from here:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/oct04/268268.asp
sad IMHO, there is no cure for rabies once symtoms appear. this poor girl is going to die and nothing can be done about it.
personally im sending some prayers her way.
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Even if the odds are against her, I hope that she'll be able to make it.
Dont give up the fight, girl...
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Originally posted by JB73
The teen reported being superficially scratched or bitten by a bat at church in September
Why oh why did her family not take her to the doctor at this point?
These days in North America, most cases of rabies in people are from bats. Depending on the area, up to 15% of bats are infected. This figure is much higher in bats that come in contact with people.
In other words, if you are scratched or bitten by a bat assume you’ve been exposed to rabies unless proven otherwise by testing of the bat.
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When I was a kid, my parents and grandparents droned on about bats and other animals, and the effects of rabies.
I used to think they were nuts. Why all the fuss?
Here is why. Death can be real.
Even if you are bitten and treated, you get some high number of daily shots in the stomach - quite painful.
My mother told me, since she was bitten as a child.
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Originally posted by myelo
Why oh why did her family not take her to the doctor at this point?
These days in North America, most cases of rabies in people are from bats. Depending on the area, up to 15% of bats are infected. This figure is much higher in bats that come in contact with people.
In other words, if you are scratched or bitten by a bat assume you’ve been exposed to rabies unless proven otherwise by testing of the bat.
I had no idea that up to 15% of bats can be infected with rabies, or that most rabies cases in humans come from bats.....her family probably didnt know that either.
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Originally posted by TalonX
Even if you are bitten and treated, you get some high number of daily shots in the stomach - quite painful.
Fortunately, that's not the case anymore. Now you get one dose of immunoglobulin. If possible, some of this is given in ther area of the bite, the rest goes in the butt.
Then there is a series of 5 vaccines given over 3 weeks. These are small doses (1 ml) given in the shoulder muscle.
Severe adverse reactions are pretty rare.
If you've been vaccinated, you only have to get 2 booster vaccines.
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Myelo,
That's true... but only if your hospital has the new treatment on hand. A friend of mine got bitten by a dog in Mexico and immediately went to the hospital, but they only had the old treament shots in stock. They couldn't wait to get in the new stuff and it would have required significant travel to go to the next nearest hospital with the new shots, so he got the old treatment.
He was pretty sick from the shot series but didn't get rabies so I guess it turned out ok, but it wasn't pleasant.
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In case anyone is interested in an update:
The girl with rabies is improving. Although she is still on a ventilator, she can recognize her family and respond to some commands. The doctors expect her to keep improving but aren't yet sure how fully she will recover.
Although rabies is typically fatal once symptoms develop there have been previous cases of almost complete recovery in a few patients.
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Myelo,
Thanks for the update. I hope she does well, she's had a problem she didn't deserve handed to her.
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I will refrain, out of some sort of a convoluted sense of bsb respect, from proclaiming the following:
BATS ARE HIMMLER!!!!!OH JEEBUS OH JEEBUS!!!!!!
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If you play with bats then you deserve rabies.
Darwin says, "Die Muther****er, die."
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She got bit by the bat in Church- Where the heck was God when this happened????
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GOD IS HIMMLER!!!!!!! OH JEEEEEEEBUS!!!! OH JEEEEEEBUS!!!!
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Originally posted by Airhead
She got bit by the bat in Church- Where the heck was God when this happened????
God is where he always has been.
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Originally posted by Airhead
She got bit by the bat in Church- Where the heck was God when this happened????
"It is often asked: Why desperate wretches have such good days, and live a long time in jollity and pleasure, to their heart's desire, with health of body, fine children, etc., while God allows the godly to remain in calamity, danger, anguish and want all their lives; yea, and some to die also in misery, as St John the Baptist did, who was the greatest saint on earth, to say nothing of our only Saviour Jesus Christ.
The prophets have all written much hereof, and shown how the godly should overcome such doubts, and comfort themselves against them. Jeremiah says, "Why goeth it so well with the ungodly, and wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" But further on, "Thou sufferest them to go at liberty like sheep that are to be slain, and thou preparest them for the day of slaughter." Read also Psalms xxxvii., xlix., lxxiii.
God is not therefore angry with his children, though he scourge and punish them; but he is angry with the ungodly that do not acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, but blaspheme and condemn the Word; such are to expect no grace and help of him. And, indeed, he does not himself scourge and beat his small and poor flock that depend on Christ; but suffers them to be chastened and beaten, when they become ever secure and unthankful unto him for his unspeakable graces and benefits shown unto them in Christ, and are disobedient to his Word; then permits he that the devil bruise our heels, and send pestilence and other plagues unto us; and that tyrants persecute us, and this for our good, that thereby we may be moved, and in a manner forced to turn ourselves unto him, to call upon him, to seek help and comfort from him, through Christ." - Dr. Martin Luther
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If y’all want to turn this into a snake handling, get your own thread.