Due to supply problems at manufacturers, there is a national shortage of the rabies vaccine. People can relate to this no longer have preventive vaccinations if they go to a country where rabies is common. The shortage will probably last until January next year, says the GGD. You should know this about the rabies virus.
People who go abroad and may come into contact with animals that may have rabies were normally eligible for a preventive vaccination. This vaccination consists of 2 injections that provide lifelong protection against the serious consequences of the virus.
The preventive vaccination ensured that a person needs fewer shots if he or she comes into contact with a virus. Now that prevention is no longer possible, it is therefore necessary to be (extra) careful. But how dangerous is this virus? Seven questions and answers about rabies.
1. What is rabies?
Rabies, also known as rabies, is a viral infection of the brain that can be fatal without timely treatment. Worldwide, about 60,000 people die of rabies every year, according to the GGD.
2. In which countries is this most common?
“It mainly concerns countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America,” says Wendelien Bergmans on behalf of the GGD Amsterdam. You can therefore also contract rabies in popular holiday countries, such as Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa. The chance of contracting the disease in the Netherlands is very small: in the past 60 years only eight Dutch people contracted rabies, Thuisarts.nl reports: ‘Almost all of those people were scratched or bitten abroad.’
3. Which animals transmit the disease to humans, and how do you get it?
“Rabies is transmitted by mammals,” says Bergmans. The virus is mainly found in dogs, bats, monkeys, foxes and cats. “You can get it if an infected animal bites you, scratches or licks non-intact skin.” You can also get the virus if the animal’s saliva gets on the mucous membrane of your eyes or mouth, for example. There is no chance of contracting rabies through contact with the urine, feces or blood of a human or animal infected with rabies.
4. How do you know if an animal is rabid?
“It is often not clear to see that an animal is contagious,” said Bergmans. “An animal that is infected will eventually show symptoms. These include aggression or sudden changes in behavior and symptoms such as muscle cramps and drooling. But an animal can be contagious before it gets sick.”
5. What are the symptoms of rabies in a human?
According to the RIVM, the disease usually starts with complaints such as chills, fever, vomiting and headache. Then you get other cramps. You may experience muscle spasms that get worse, convulsions (where the whole body begins to jerk), paralysis, difficulty swallowing, and difficulty breathing. Someone with rabies sometimes also becomes afraid of water.
Without medical treatment, the swallowing and breathing problems associated with rabies lead to death. The time between becoming infected and becoming ill usually takes between twenty and ninety days, according to the RIVM.
6. What should you do if you come into contact with a rabid animal?
“If you have been at risk from a bite, scratch or lick, it is important to clean the wound thoroughly with soap and water for at least 15 minutes, and to disinfect it with Betadine or alcohol (70 percent)”, Bergmans advises. . It is then important to seek medical help as soon as possible. “Preferably within 24 hours, even if someone has been vaccinated against rabies. Emergency treatment is then started as soon as possible to prevent someone from becoming infected.
7. The preventive vaccination has been temporarily canceled. How dangerous is it if you do get the virus?
The advice is mainly to avoid contact with animals. So do not touch (live, sick or dead) animals and do not feed them. This way you also avoid the risk of a bite, scratch or lick. If someone is traveling unvaccinated and has had risky contact with an animal, the most important advice is to seek medical care as soon as possible. If you don’t do this and you become infected and you become ill, then there is no treatment for the disease,” says Bergmans.
After an injury, treatment can prevent the virus from entering the nervous system, according to the RIVM. This preventive treatment can only be given before there are symptoms of the disease. An untreated rabies infection is always fatal.
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2023-08-12 07:15:00
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