Eight-year-old girl Precious Reynolds has many more years in store right after what some have referred to as a medical wonder. According to University of California Davis Children's Hospital, she is one of a small number of individuals in documented U.S. history to survive the rabies virus without having acquired targeted antiviral drugs right away right after exposure. The proof is here: Miraculous 8-year-old survives rabies without immediate care

Some years ago, one of my borzoi came into the house from his fenced yard late on a summer evening smelling of skunk encounter. I went ahead & cleaned him up with Skunk Off & went to bed thinking the skunk was on one side of the fence & he, on the other.

Next morning I found the body of a not fully grown skunk, dispatched it, then had a conversation with a PA friend who informed me in no uncertain terms to get hold of my doctor to start the post rabies exposure treatment.

Nobody hesitated. The glubulin & vaccines were secured PDQ & for the next month I was back & forth receiving immunity I might/might not have needed.

I'm not in favor of all sorts of vaccines but rabies is one I surely wouldn't fool with either for my animals or for me.

There should be no hesitation when dealing with critters that might possibly be carrying the rabies virus. While it's great that Precious survived, hopefully it won't give people false security that they, too, can overcome rabies.

Any time a pet comes in to my ER with any exposure to anything bigger than an insect that the owner didn't witness, the pet is treated as a potential rabies suspect. The pet is then handled as such by my staff per my directions. I also try to minimize the number of people caring for that patient.
I tell them that this may be overkill, but I would rather tell them "wear gloves, don't get bitten, and wash your hands" multiple times so that it's stuck in their heads, when the alternative is neurologic symptoms, post-exposure vaccines, and potential death for EVERYONE who comes into contact.

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/index.html

Dr. Khuly, my guess is Precious' doctor was confusing his Rabies statistics from the United States only, perhaps better for this purpose to recognize that and cite - the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), rather than The World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO (obviously) monitors statistics worldwide and some continents, like Asia and Africa, clearly have a leg up on their fear factors. From your cited WHO: "Rabies is present on all continents with the exception of Antartica, but more than 95% of human deaths occur in Asia and Africa." Knock out 95% and that gives the remaining continents and nations (including the U.S.) of the entire world a tidy 2,750 cases annually. Makes sense of his number of 30? So, he made a mistake in thinking the United States = the world. Mistakes are made, and then again, the press gets it wrong sometimes, too.

I am in no way trying to undermine the goal of your message, it is an important message. I do think that it can be more successfully underlined for your audience through presentation of the facts - which are scary but crystal clear enough - an argument that mandatory rabies vaccinations are a success story in the veterinary history of the United States. The CDC site is a great aid in highlighting that point.

Hmm, I had only ever heard of one previous survivor. Interesting.

I think you overlooked one additional reason why the American public is reluctant to seek treatment for potential rabies exposure. Not only are cases quite rare here (so the average person has never even heard a story of someone dying from it), but there is widespread belief that the vaccination series is as long and painful as they were decades ago. The media generally doesn't help. Several months ago I wrote an angry email to Atlanta's Fox affiliate after they spent all morning playing clips of locals that been attacked by a rabid fox talking about the "dozens" of rabies shots they got in the ER.

I suspect that if the majority of people here in the States had any idea what rabies actually does to a human, they'd happily line up for the old protocol in the event of a potential exposure.

I YouTubed "human rabies" a couple of years ago, and as much of a needle-phobe as I am... I'll take the shots, thankyouverymuch, wherever you'd care to stick them!

Rabies seems to be viewed as eradicated due to vaccination protocols, but we forget about the strays that don't get those vaccines.

Even raising dogs for 10 years, I didn't know what Rabies does to humans. More education would be fabulous! Can you direct me to good info that I could place on my web site?

Is there a reason why all humans are not vaccinated for rabies? If it's such a deadly disease, why is it not mandatory that humans receive this vaccine like they receive other vaccines? And just like our dogs and cats are made to get vaccinated over and over again? Next question would be: our pets are vaccinated yet if they come into contact with a rabid animal why do they have to go through a series of shots again?

"Is there a reason why all humans are not vaccinated for rabies? If it's such a deadly disease, why is it not mandatory that humans receive this vaccine like they receive other vaccines?"

Because considered as a system, the way we do it is better.

NO vaccine is without occasional serious reactions, chiefly anaphylaxis. Vaccinating all (or as many as we could reach) U.S. humans would thus kill a significant number every year, compared to one or two deaths annually from rabies, handling things as we do.

Because the post-exposure prophylaxis is highly effective these deaths are very often people who didn't know they were potentially exposed. A cave explorer who may have inhaled bat dust or urine particles, a trapper who may have picked up a dead animal on the road as bait ...

Plus the greater number of humans (compared to dogs) and higher per-procedure cost for our health care would increase the total expense severalfold.

Any person who may have been exposed should consult a doctor immediately. The post exposure preventative is highly effective but must be given before there are symptoms. Persons at unusually high risk (such as vet and animal shelter personnel) should have a pre-exposure vaccination as a first line of defense.

The reservoirs for rabies are small wildlife: raccoons, skunks, bats, and so on. By far the most common potential human exposure is via pet dogs: We vaccinate THEM so that they're very unlikely to get the disease and pass it along to us.

However it appears that ANY warm blooded animal can be rabid. Google 'name of species' and 'rabies' ...

Oddly, even veterinarians are often unaware of the importance of rabies vaccinations of dogs. Some states have passed laws loading negative consequences onto rabies vaccination such as requiring vets to report names for dog licensing purposes without objection from veterinary medical associations.

...get on my nerves. I was a pediatric nurse for years, before switching to vet medicine. Too many children were allowed to suffer & die because of various parental beliefs. Same thing for our pets. And it doesn't help when AAHA says it's "OK" to vaccinate every 3 years.

I visit a K9 forum where vaccines are 1 of the biggest things they fight about. (Shock collars are #1 there, but don't get me started on that!)

If people don't want to vaccinate their kids, why should they put their pets at point? Besides, look at all the $$ they save to spend on drugs or booze...

When I worked for the specialty vet, we frequently saw wild animals. Dr. X had those of us who would be handling the wild ones - get rabies vaccines every other year. We did not hesitate.

We also vaccinate our pets annually - our 4 housecats may stay indoors, but all it would take is a feral cat leaping & biting 1 of them on our way to the car to see the vet. And I don't care who lectures me. It's just not worth the chance...

While I'm certainly not a member of the anti-vaccine crowd, I don't have a problem with the three-year stance. Not all vaccines need to be given on a yearly basis.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but where's the PROOF that some of these vaccines don't need to be given annually? Do we KNOW this was a feral cat, or someone's pet allowed to roam outside & hadn't gotten its shot in 3 years?

And then, how do we justify the Bordatella every 6 months just so we can board our German Shepherd?

For every study that says it's OK to wait, there's another that always argues the opposite. And for that, I'm afraid to take the chance. :(

I've read various studies citing animal studies showing that the rabies vaccines are effective for 7-8 years. I know there have been studies on many of the vaccines because of the backlash of people whose animals suffered side effects. I used to keep all that info at my fingertips, but will have to look it up agin.
What did the vet believe about titers? I know they are not 100% but neither are vaccines - the reason we still give vaccines in case of exposure.
I was wondering how often the vets get the vaccine. I knew they did initially, but didn't realize they took the rabies vaccine every other year.
Thank you for your information.
I think there has to be some medium ground between over vaccinating and not vaccinating at all. I too am uncomfortable with the radical anti vaccine rhetoric. Yet I am just as offended by being bullied into unnecessary vaccines by a practice that doesn't look at individual cases. I appreciate my vet who accepts titers for vaccines. It helps his business because he makes more money, and it makes me feel better that I'm not giving unnecessary vaccines to my furkids.

Vets aren't usually re-vaccinated unless necessary. "Necessary" means that a) blood titers (usually done every 2-3 years) are running low, or b) there is an exposure risk (i.e., exposed to a rabid animal, thereby requiring the post-exposure prophylaxis series).

There's also a difference between the pre-exposure series (three injections of vaccine), the "booster" (just one vaccine, I think), and the post-exposure series (multiple vaccines, although I'm unsure of the number).

The AAHA is basing their 3-year vaccination protocol on studies saying that vaccination titers are remaining high many, many years (7? 10? >10? lifetime? Dr. Khuly has multiple posts on this topic on her blog.) after the initial vaccination series. Some vets are willing to refrain from vaccinating -- which does pose its own risks of vaccine reactions up to and including death -- if titer results show adequate protection. *However* rabies is the exception to this rule, and most municipalities do NOT consider adequate rabies titers an acceptable alternative to vaccination. Given that one of the symptoms of rabies is death, I guess it's worthwhile.

Thank you! That's more in line with what I'v previously read!

"...and the post-exposure series (multiple vaccines, although I'm unsure of the number)."

Globulin is given based on a person's weight, whereas the post rabies treatment itself comprises 5 shots. The first being administered the same day you receive the globulin. Thereafter shots are given on the 3rd, 7th, 14th & 28th days...greyborz

When I first started working on TNR one of the team leaders said to get a tetanus booster right away. When I went to the doctor and told them I wanted a tetanus booster and why the first thing the doc said was "well, if you're going to be dealing with feral animals we may as well go ahead and give you the rabies preventative too". For years I got a reminder card from the clinic about my "rabies shots" every two years. Hey, my insurance even covered it as they covered all vaccines and flu shots. Walt is absolutely correct, I was told I was only getting it because I was doing "high risk" behaviours. By the way, my physician loved that I was doing this which is one of the reasons he was my doc until he retired.

Several of the stories I heard about Precious said she was scratched. I didn't hear that she was bitten. A scratch can easily be overlooked, she might not have even told her mom when it happened..

Here in Florida there are many people who leave food out for raccoons and other wildlife and ferel cats. My friend, an older vet, really warned me sternly about feeding any wild life saying that even the saliva left on cat food could spread rabies. I know that as a child I was bitten by a neighbor dog and refused to tell my mom because I was so horrified of "getting awful shots with big needles in my stomach." I'd been warned thusly to keep me from touching dogs/cats, but it had the effect of keeping me silent. She did eventually see the bite and checked with the owner. The biting dog had had his rabies vaccine - and probably wouldn't have bitten me if I hadn't tried to pet him while he was eating : ) But I've been afraid of chis ever since. There's no accounting for what children do/think. My magical thinking assured me that all animals realized I was their kindred spirit and best friend.

I aopolgize in advance for this long comment. I live in NJ and two years ago there were 2 rabid raccoon attacks in my neighborhood. I found out about these attacks entirely by accident when one of my foster dogs escaped our fenced yard and was apprehended by a neighbor. When I went to retrieve the dog I got to chatting with her captor, who is also a dog owner. She told me that a raccoon had entered her yard and attacked her dogs a few weeks earlier. One of the dogs was bitten, but in the scuffle the raccoon was killed. Being a former vet tech and responsible pet owner, she knew she needed to seek veterinary attention and alert the health department of the attack. Her dogs were current on their rabies vaccines and only required a booster. The raccoon was sent for analysis where it was determined it was infected with rabies. Scary! But even worse, she told me of another raccoon attack in our neighborhood involving children. A raccoon was spotted during the middle of the day headed for a family’s pool. An adult decided to go out to chase the intruder off and told the children to stay in the house. Well the kids didn’t listen and followed dad outside. The raccoon rushed toward the children. Dad told them to jump in the pool thinking they’d be safe but the raccoon followed them into the water. The father jumped in, grabbed the raccoon and pulled it under. He was bitten before the raccoon drown. The raccoon was rabid. They didn’t want to take any chances with the kids in case any of them had an open wound or scratch the saliva in the water could have infected them. Both dad and the children were all treated for rabies exposure. In our local paper there was no warning and no mention and per NJ law this information had to be reported to state and local health departments. I can’t imagine why residents of our area were not informed. This was the perfect occasion to turn an unfortunate series of events into an educational opportunity. But we heard NOTHING. It was only by word of mouth. I am so careful with my dogs, especially my new foster that have only been recently vaccinated. Most people don’t realize that an animal isn’t considered immune until 28 days after vaccination. Rabies is a real threat. In rural areas like where I live interactions with wildlife are inevitable. People need to be educated.