re: The terror of rabies

Man, with rabies, I wonder if earholing the patient would be more humane than letting them suffer through the progression of the disease. There is no surviving; the two recorded cases of survival in human history do not constitute hope.

Suffer this
Rabies destroying a human
Or a quick "BANG"?

This is true.

I had the rabies vaccination as a child.

A friend and I discovered a bat on the driveway one day. It was alive but lethargic. I flipped the bat into a coffee can and closed the lid. When my mother learned of this action she flipped out. My father was concerned. They called the doctor who instructed us to go to the hospital the next day and he would meet us there.

They questioned me repeatedly and in detail. They examined my hands closely. The bat was killed and sampled for rabies, which was confirmed. The bat did not bite me but the virus can transfer through saliva and fluid. A scratch can be dangerous enough for possibility of transfer. I had no cuts or scratches on my hands but I did have a hang/chewed nail and cuticle tear.

Doctors said that we needed to make a decision immediately because vaccinations only have a short window to be effective. Given the reality of rabies...excruciating death...the risk was deemed too great and my parents needed peace of mind. Vaccinations were recommended and ordered.

I don’t remember how many shots exactly but it was a lot. The first was a huge gamma globulin. Then a shot once a week on the same scheduled day every week for I think 8 weeks. Halfway through schedule they injected me with four shots at the same time.

It was all painful, especially for a child. The vaccinations came direct to the hospital from the CDC every week. They were administered in the hip and we were grateful for that because we thought they would have to be administered in the stomach. Fortunately, they stopped doing it that way.

I personally know a family who lost a child to rabies.

Ten days from infection to death.

Diagnosis on Day Six.

Terrible & tragic.