This conversation is presented by Grifols, a leading global healthcare company specializing in plasma-derived medicines, biopharmaceuticals and transfusion medicine helping millions of patients around the world.
A conversation originally aired three parts, listen below as 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck has an in-depth conversation about rabies with Dr. Charles Rupprecht.
Dr. Charles Rupprecht currently serves as chief for the Rabies Section at the National Center for Infectious Disease at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. He has also served as director at the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Rabies Reference and Research.
“When somebody is talking to you about disease, what first comes to your mind?” said Rupprecht. “Typically, when we’re in conversation, particularly with parents, we’re thinking about measles, mumps, childhood vaccine-preventable [diseases], upper-respiratory disease, the common cold, flu — but often rabies doesn’t come to mind, because rabies isn’t human-communicable. Rabies is a basic disease of nature … as we speak, animal to animal, these viruses are being transmitted irrespective of what we’re transmitting among ourselves.
Click here to listen to Part One of the conversation
Rabies is a fatal, acute, and progressive encephalomyelitis with a presence on every continent save for Antarctica. Characterized by sudden onset, inflammation of the brain and, finally, death. Our understanding of the disease worldwide is limited by local capacity for analysis and study — presenting a significant bottleneck for less-developed countries, and a higher risk of burden and exposure in those areas.
Click here to listen to Part Two of the conversation
Rabies is only communicable through mucous membranes, whether by teeth breaking the skin and exposing infection risk or through saliva or contact with other mucous membranes. Rupprecht outlines how, should contact with a rabid animal occur, the danger only truly lies in direct exposure — and any direct exposure should be promptly dealt with.
“An exposure is defined as either any penetration of the skin by teeth … a transdermal exposure … the virions, the small virus particles secreted in the saliva of a rabid animal, has to enter a break in the skin, such as from a bite,” said Rupprecht.”Most of our exposures occur via bite, mucous membrane exposures also occur … what we don’t want people to do is neglect [exposure].”
Click here to listen to Part Three of the conversation
“Prevention is really the key, education to our children about not contacting strange-acting animals or animals we are not familiar with — especially wildlife — is really the key,” said Rupprecht. “If you can touch it, don’t. Wild animals who are infected sometimes lose their fear of people, and sometimes behave erratically.”
Rupprecht also stresses how all domestic animals — dogs, cats, horses, cattle — can and should be vaccinated against rabies. Just because contact with a rabid animal may be unusual or unexpected does not mean it is impossible, and safety is key when dealing with such an infectious and damaging illness.
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