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Theoretically, the donor could die before the rabies infection developed into a disease. For example, in a car crash. IDK if this was ever the case. The incubat
by inglor_cz 11mo ago
Theoretically, the donor could die before the rabies infection developed into a disease. For example, in a car crash. IDK if this was ever the case. The incubation period is definitely long enough for this to be a plausible scenario.
- thaumasiotes 11mo agoGoing by wikipedia, the incubation period can be up to three months. That isn't a particularly significant span of time if we're measuring how likely someone is to suffer an unexpected death. It's long enough that the possibility exists, but that's about all you can say.
- gus_massa 11mo agoAssuming an even distribution of deaths: 3 months / 80 years = 0.3% But there is very little people that is incubating rabies.
- jjk166 11mo agoBut the question isn't "what are the odds someone who dies in this period has rabies" it's "what are the odds someone who died after being infected with rabies died before they started showing symptoms" so the rarity of people incubating rabies is irrelevant. Further, rabies incubation is highly variable - symptoms may not appear for years.
- woleium 11mo agonit: surely the upper bound for an acceptable organ is < 80 years old and > 15? maybe the window is closer to 50 years?