{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "sorry if i\u2019m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? please remember that rabies has an...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/178315238633/", "html": "
sorry if i\u2019m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop\u00a0so if you\u2019re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren\u2019t 100% sure is vaccinated then GO TO A DOCTOR.\u00a0it\u2019s not a joke. really.\u00a0
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You\u2019re being kind when you say \u201calmost 100% fatality\u201d. What people need to hear is: if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you\u2019re dead. If you get heavy treatment after developping symptoms, you still need a miracle. Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
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ALSO, I don\u2019t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there\u2019s a vaccine available, either. I\u2019ll explain why from my own experience (I\u2019m not a doctor).
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I got bitten by a wild tamarin once, on the pulp of my index finger. It drew blood, there are many wild animals in the area (tamarins, possums, bats, foxes) and it isn\u2019t that uncommon to hear about 1 or 2 rabies cases every now and again (a puppy we gave to a friend got it, for instance), so I went to an ambulatory immediately.
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Because I was bitten in an ultrasensitive area, I needed fast treatment. But it was also a small area, so the usual thing they do - inject the vaccine in the place - wasn\u2019t a choice. They told me they\u2019d divide the shot in 5 small ones, and inject me all over my body, so the antidote would get to my entire system fast.
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Please stop for a moment and think that the disease is so worrysome that they\u2019d rather needle me all over than to give me one shot and wait until it spread through my system.
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Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot.\u00a0\u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0\u201cBecause the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it\u2019s a strong one, and it\u2019s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.\u201d YOU HAVE TO TAKE AN ANTIALLERGIC SHOT IN ORDER TO TAKE THE VACCINE COZ THE VACCINE COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE YOU REALLY SICK
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ALSO IT WASN\u2019T JUST \u201cA LITTLE ANTIALLERGIC SHOT\u201d
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IT WAS ONE OF THESE FUCKERS HERE.
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It was OBVIOUSLY dripped in my body and not injected because HAHAHAHA. Truth be told I was an adult already and I\u2019m tall so I have a lot of mass but STILL.
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So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
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- One in each buttock
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- One in each thigh
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- One in my left arm
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They all stung like a bitch and I usually don\u2019t care about shots.
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\u201cOkay so can I go home now?\u201d
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\u201cNo, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we\u2019re SURE the vaccine won\u2019t give you any reaction.\u201d
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BINCH I WAS GIVEN A BUTTLOAD OF MEDICINE BUT THERE WAS STILL A RISK.
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I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a fever)
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BUT DID YOU THINK IT WAS OVER?
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WRONG!!!
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I had to take four reinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized.Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it\u2019d been hit, and when night came I\u2019d have a fever. Because that\u2019s how fucking strong the vaccine is, BECAUSE THAT\u2019S HOW VICIOUS THE VIRUS IS.
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So yeah. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN RISK, GODDAMNIT. Rabies is a rare condition all over, THANK GOD, and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, AND FOR A REASON.
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If you like messing with stray/wild animals, don\u2019t go picking them up and be extra careful. Or just, like, DON\u2019T - call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
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I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn\u2019t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, ONE MORE REASON TO NOT FUCKING PLAY WITH THIS SHIT.
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Rabies is 100% lethal. Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you\u2019re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment NOW. And probably go through all that shit I\u2019ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? I DON\u2019T KNOW WHAT\u2019D HAPPEN)
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Stay safe and don\u2019t be stupid ffs
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Guys, I know this isn\u2019t art nor anything like that, but I\u2019ve been hearing about this rabies thing and ???? Look I trust none of you would risk yourselves like this, but maybe you can educate someone through my experience and stuff.
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Also rabies does not necessarily cause frothing-at-the-mouth aggression in animals. Docility is also a very common symptom so any wild animal that is\u00a0\u2018friendly\u2019 or\u00a0\u2018likes to be pet\u2019 is suspect. Literally any wild animal is a vector.
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Finally, you don\u2019t need to be bitten. All you need is to come into contact with an infected animal\u2019s bodily fluids through a cut that maybe you didn\u2019t notice when you were handling it when it drooled on you.
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Never touch a wild animal.
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Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
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Prodromal: Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns.\u00a0\u201cDocility\u201d and\u00a0\u201clikes to be pet\u201d are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious.
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Excitative: Stage Two. Also called\u00a0\u201cfurious\u201d rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is\u2013hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit hydrophobia\u00a0or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
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Paralytic: Stage Three. Also called\u00a0\u201cdumb\u201d rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
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And to add onto the above, saliva isn\u2019t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, do not go for a head shot. If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you\u2019ll give yourself an infection.
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When I worked in wildlife rehabilitation, I actually did see a rabid animal in person, and it remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, because I was literally looking death in the eyes.
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A pair of well-intentioned women brought us a raccoon that they thought had been hit by a car. They had found it on the side of the road, dragging its hind legs. They managed\u2013somehow\u2013to get it into a cat carrier and brought it to us.\u00a0
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As they brought it in, I remember how eerily silent it was. Normal raccoons chatter almost constantly. They fidget. They bump around. They purr and mumble and make little grabby-hands at everything. Even when they\u2019re in pain, and especially when they\u2019re stressed. But this one wasn\u2019t moving around inside the carrier, and it wasn\u2019t making a sound.
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The clinic director also noticed this, and he asked in a calm but urgent voice for the women to hand the carrier to him. He took it to the exam room and set it on the table while they filled out some forms in the next room. I took a step towards the carrier, to look at our new patient, and without turning around, he told me, \u201cGo to the other side of the room, and stay there.\u201d
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He took a small penlight out of the drawer and shone it briefly into the carrier, then sighed.\u00a0\u201cBear, if you want to come look at this, you can put on a mask,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s really pretty neat, but I know you\u2019re not vaccinated and I don\u2019t want to take any chances.\u201d\u00a0
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And at that point, I knew exactly what we were dealing with, and I knew that this would be the closest I had ever been to certain death. So I grabbed a respirator from the table and put it on, and held my breath for good measure as I approached the table. The clinic director pointed where I should stand, well back from the carrier door. He shone the light inside again, and I saw two brilliant flashes of emerald green\u2013the most vivid, unnatural eyeshine I had ever seen.\u00a0
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\u201cI don\u2019t know why it does it,\u201d the director murmured,\u00a0\u201cbut it turns their eyes green.\u201d
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\u201cWhat does?\u201d one of the women asked, with uncanny, unintentionally dramatic timing, as she poked her head around the corner.
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\u201cRabies,\u201d the director said.\u00a0\u201cThe raccoon is rabid. Did it bite either of you, or even lick you?\u201d They told us no, said they had even used leather garden gloves when they herded it into the carrier. He told them to throw away the gloves as soon as possible, and steam-clean the upholstery in their car. They asked how they should clean the cat carrier; they wanted it back and couldn\u2019t be convinced otherwise, so he told them to soak it in just barely diluted bleach.
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But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The rabid\u00a0raccoon.
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The clinic director readied a syringe with tranquilizers and attached it to the end of a short pole. I don\u2019t remember how it was rigged exactly\u2013whether he had a way to push down the plunger or if the needle would inject with pressure\u2013but all he would have to do was stick the animal to inject it. And so, after sending me and the women back to the other side of the room, he made his fist jab.
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He missed the raccoon.
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The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I\u2019m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon physically could not make.\u00a0
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It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was genuinely\u00a0scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.\u00a0
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Somehow, the clinic director kept his calm, and as the raccoon jolted around inside the cat carrier, he moved in with the syringe again, and this time, he hit it. He emptied the syringe into its body and withdrew the pole.
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And then we waited.
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We waited for those awful screams, that horrible thrashing, to die down. As we did, the director loaded up another syringe with even more tranquilizer, and as the raccoon dropped off into unconsciousness, he stuck it a second time with the heavier dose. Even then, it growled at him and flailed a paw against the wall.
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More waiting, this time to make sure the animal was truly down for the count.
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Then, while wearing welder\u2019s gloves, the director opened the door of the carrier and removed the raccoon. She was limp, bedraggled, and utterly emaciated, but she was still alive. We bagged up the cat carrier and gave it to the women again, advising them that now was a good time to leave. They heeded our warning.
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I asked if I could come closer to see, and the clinic director pointed where I could stand. I pushed the mask up against my face and tried to breathe as little as possible.
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He and his co-director\u2013who I think he was grooming to be his successor, but the clinic actually went under later that year\u2013examined the raccoon together. Donning a pair of nitrile gloves, he reached down and pulled up a handful, a literal fistful, of the raccoon\u2019s skin and released it. It stayed pulled up.
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Severe dehydration causes a phenomenon called\u00a0\u201cskin tenting\u201d. The skin loses its elasticity somewhat, and will be slow to return to its\u00a0\u201cnormal\u201d shape when manipulated. The clinic director estimated that it had been at least four or five days since the raccoon had had anything to eat or drink.\u00a0
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She was already on death\u2019s doorstep, but her rabies infection had driven her exhausted body to scream and lunge and bite.\u00a0
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Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading.\u00a0
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The prodromal stage? Nocturnal animals become diurnal\u2013allowing them to potentially infect most hosts than if they remained nocturnal.\u00a0
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The excitative stage? The infected animal bites at the slightest provocation. Swallowing causes painful spasms, so they drool, coating their bodies in infectious matter. A drink could wash away the virus-charged saliva from their mouth and bodies, so the virus drives them to panic at the sight of water.
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(The paralytic stage? By that point, the animal has probably spread its infection to new hosts, so the virus has no need for it any longer.)
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Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, and so far we haven\u2019t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn\u2019t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
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Please, please, take rabies seriously.
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This has been a warning from your old pal Bear.
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I knew how bad it was, but I had never read anything like the raccoon story.
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I am not exaggerating when I say that is literally terrifying.
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Y'all please read this. That is absolutely hideous. That\u2019s literally like something from a horror movie.
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Do not fuck around with wildlife. Or weird strays.
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Yeah rabies was intense
Cujo was about rabies! (And psychic reincarnation of a serial killer. Like Child\u2019s Play and Friday the 13th. It was an unsettled time)
The rabid dog scene in To Kill A Mockingbird is thematic! In addition to proving Atticus Finch is a good shot! Which makes Scout\u2019s memory of him staring down a lynch mob with a long gun as a purely *moral* victory a naive child\u2019s understanding of her dad!
The end of Old Yeller maps to the classic zombie movie scene, where you know this thing you love is turning but you still love it but it\u2019s going to turn into a vicious death machine and you have a shotgun but you love it!
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