RABID REALITY: Man dies of rabies in Laguna, total PH cases hike

Dogs can either be two things: one, a man’s best friend — or worse, his own dead end. 

Just hours before he died, a 31-year old factory worker was tied in a hospital bed on May 18 in Cabuyao, Laguna — snarling, disoriented, aggressive and violent, showing a severe symptom of rabies that scientists are only beginning to understand.

However, when a person gets infected, it is game over–as they start acting like wild animals themselves.

Rabies is a viral infection carried by warm-blooded mammals and caused by an RNA virus of the Rhabdovirus (RABV) family.

The virus can affect a patient either via entering the central nervous system directly or mutating within muscle tissues where it is spared from the human body’s immune system.

From there, rabies produces acute inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.

It is transmitted through an infected animal’s saliva, usually through bites, scratches, or direct contact with mucous membranes, such as open wounds or broken skin.

The infection causes spasms in the throat when the infected drinks — or even just from trying to swallow, which leads to developing hydrophobia, or a psychological fear of water.

Early symptoms include fever, headache, and muscle weakness, while confusion, agitation, hallucinations, and hydrophobia later follows.

“Once symptoms show, the case is 100% fatal,”  the Department of Health warns.

Experts observed rabies alters the behaviour of the infected hosts by rendering them disoriented and aggressive, but its biological mechanisms remain unknown.

Despite the virus having been studied since the 19th century, only recently have researchers revealed how it works at the molecular level.

A group of scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks studied how rabies, with only five genes and very little information, is able to modify the behaviour of the hosts.

Karsten Hueffer, one of the researchers says, “we’ve connected the dots from past findings to ours, showing the involvement of the virus’ molecules binding to receptors of the brain, affecting muscle control.”

In their study, they found out that rabies contains glycoproteins — a type of protein with sugar attached — that sticks to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors which are present in the brain, allowing for smooth communication between brain cells.

“We thought that if viruses could bind to receptors in areas where brain cells talk to each other and disrupt their communication, it can also change the behaviour of the infected animal,” Hueffer added.

To test the hypothesis, the researchers conducted a series of experiments, one of which includes injecting a glycoprotein section into a mice’s brain and observing its after-effects.

Results showed the mice started running around, agitated and aggressive, after the shot — the same behaviour seen in rabies-infected animals.

Rabies, however, is preventable. 

The patient from Laguna only showed symptoms after nine months from a dog bite and failure to complete necessary vaccine doses, highlighting the importance of immediate and strict compliance of measures.

“Animal bite clinics are now very accessible in communities,” said Menchita Celestra, municipal health official of Teresa, Rizal.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), is given after a bite — which includes wound care, and four dose series of vaccines, with the first dose given at Day 0, the day the patient is infected.

The following dosages are administered on Days 3, 7 and 14 to individuals with deeper skin lesions or superficial scratches. 

For severe bites, such as those on the face, neck, and upper body, extra doses are given, stretching the treatment for more than a month.

With the continuous surge of cases, only two things remain certain: rabies is fatal, and recovery is rare. 

However, it is not the absence of cure that plunges infection cases at a maximum, but the absence of action. 

Prevention is indeed better than cure — and in this case, it might also be the one to draw the line between a best friend and a man’s end.