5 ms·
This story was interesting to me because growing up rabies was always something we kind of worried about as kids; it seemed like something that was common and t
by ssully 5y ago
This story was interesting to me because growing up rabies was always something we kind of worried about as kids; it seemed like something that was common and to worry about. I distinctly remember people talking about how fatal it was if you weren't treated, and how horrible the treatment was. I remember people talking about needing multiple injections from large needles to your abdomen.
By the time I was a teen I learned that rabies was rare, but this story helped illustrate how rare it actually is, in my home state nonetheless!
- AlbertCory 5y agoSame here. The bit about 21 needles in your stomach was especially horrifying. I knew a guy who had the treatment recently, and he said it was 6 shots in the arm.
- newsbinator 5y agoI had the treatment- 5 or 6 shots in total in the arm, I think it was, over multiple sessions, staggered n days apart.
- nicoburns 5y agoMy understanding is that the shots in the arm only work if you’ve also had the vaccine ahead of time. My knowledge may be out of date though.
- filoeleven 5y agoFriends of mine had to get the series in 2019, and they were not previously vaccinated. The vaccine is only recommended for people who are more likely to encounter rabid animals, like animal control workers or cavers. With prompt treatment, the PEP series is sufficient. The virus moves through the body at up to around 7cm per day IIRC, so a bite on the neck is of more immediate concern than a bite on the hand, because it has less distance to travel to reach the brain. (Why anyone would wait at all is beyond me.)
- gremloni 5y agoI had immunoglobulins injected directly into the dog bite wound and over 3 sessions along with shots in the arm.
- e40 5y agoYep, same here. However, don't forget Old Yeller. Man, that movie certainly drove the fear home.
- alistairSH 5y agoSame. We were definitely told to stay away from raccoons and bats, especially during the day (both are normally nocturnal or close to it). The only people I know who've required rabies treatment had encounters with bats. Usually a bat got into their home through an open window, but wasn't noticed for some time. From what I was told, small bat bites aren't particularly painful or large and can look like bug bites, so any bat in the house usually ends up with a rabies treatment for residents.
- Loughla 5y agoAnd what's worse, is when raccoons get distemper, they act massively aggressive, and really, really weird. SO there's nothing like the pants shitting terror of an aggressive raccoon, and then worrying that you might need rabies shots as well just to find out that it was just distemper.
- Aaronstotle 5y agoI'm in in my mid 20s, and I distinctly remember the fear of rabies because of the injections (20 needles in the stomach).
- bernardv 5y agoModern rabies shots (post 1970’s) are no longer painful. Had them after our dog died of rabies. It is a horrible death.
- danielodievich 5y agoMy brother was bit by a dog when he was 7 or 8 while we're at grandparents. I remember that there was uncertainty whether the the dog was rabid, and the doctors were seriously concerned. He had the full 20 needles into stomach treatment. It was not a happy time to be him.
- missblit 5y agoWhen I was bitten by a dog around 7 or 8 my doctor just said it was no big deal. Granted it was a domesticated dog (that I liked to pet on my way to school) but still they probably should have been a bit more careful!