Rabies transmission from person to person

There are many ways for rabies to be transmitted, mainly through saliva. Animals lick the wound after scratching people, or the animals themselves carry the rabies virus, and direct scratches will be directly transmitted through blood secretions. Human-to-human transmission is also through secretions, so after rabies occurs, isolation is required for a short period of time.

Methods/Steps The virus in the salivary glands of sick animals invades the human body through bites and scratches on human mucosa and skin, proliferates in local muscle cells, and ascends to the central nervous system with the blood flow. After the nerve cells proliferate, they can reach the salivary glands and other tissues. The incubation period varies depending on the site and severity of the bite, with reports of up to thirty years and generally one to three months. At the beginning of the disease, there is a feeling of ants crawling on the wound, followed by symptoms such as headache, tearing, drooling, nausea, and vomiting. It shows increased nervous excitement and spasm of the larynx when swallowing. It is more severe when exposed to wind and water, so it is called hydrophobia.

There are three main ways rabies is transmitted:

1. Infection caused by bites or scratches on the skin or licking of mucous membranes by dogs or other animals. Rabies virus invades the nerves through wounds and mucous membranes and causes disease. This is the main mode of infection.

2. Infection caused by accidentally pricking the hands during slaughtering or skinning.

3. Infection through the digestive tract. Animals that died of rabies are buried underground and frozen in the winter. They are then dug out by wild dogs or other animals, which eat their meat and infect them with rabies.

If you are bitten or scratched by a dog or other animal with rabies or an unknown condition, you should get a rabies vaccine in time. In serious cases, you should also get an injection of rabies immunoglobulin or antiviral serum to avoid infection.

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