What is rabies is it exactly like what we see in the movies it's short the answer is no not
exactly it is transmitted to humans through accidental animal bites or scratches it is
a devastating degenerative infection that will inevitably get worse over time however you can
use your mind as we do have preventive medical methods that work very well with administered in
time let's begin by having a look at the makeup of the rabies virus viruses are made up of RNA
just like you and I have DNA RNA is the viruses instruction manual for proteins that it has to
make in order to survive inside of ourselves these proteins help the rabies virus spread even further
and hijack more cells what do you think about the small and simple structure of the rabies virus it
is remarkable that it can exert the aggressive and grueling symptoms that we see in rabies so
how exactly does rabies spread between people and animals well the rabies virus is mainly
transmitted through saliva of infected animals such as dogs raccoons and bats when the infected
animal bites another animal or human the rabies virus enters the body through the wound the period
before the rabies virus spreads to the peripheral nerves is called the incubation period which may
last for weeks during this phase no symptoms manifests since the virus localized to the site
of injury as the virus moves throughout the body it replicates invisible symptoms begin to appear
some of the symptoms in humans include physical pain fatigue fever and agitation although the
rabies virus affects many parts of the body its major target is the nervous system the nervous
system is made up of the central nervous system which includes the brain in the spinal cord and
the peripheral nervous system which includes all of the other nerves in the body the replicating
rabies virus first invades the peripheral nervous system where it travels through neurons until it
reaches the central nervous system after reaching the central nervous system the virus travels up
the spinal cord and into the brain where it rapidly multiplies the brain is where the
virus exerts is detrimental nearby trickle effect the major effect of the rabies virus on the brain
involves inflammation to put that into sciency terms it's called encephalitis and Cephalon means
brain and itis means inflammation so how does this present in people infected with rabies the brain
is the main command center for our entire body it controls important functions such as digestion
breathing speaking and emotions when rabies takes over the emotional control areas the patient may
feel aggression and anger erratically using methods such as magnetic resonance imaging or
MRI which can scan your brain activity researchers can identify the specific brain regions that are
affected once a person acquires the rabies infection current research has shown that
brain areas such as the brainstem hypothalamus and pituitary gland may be most affected by
rabies infections this may explain the aggressive behavior found in rabies but again keep in mind
that this information is not fully understood although rabies and fashion's can generally be
fatal if patients seek medical help immediately upon being bitten by a rabid animal the chances
of survival increases to a hundred percent since the inoculation phase happens before the spread of
rabies to the nervous system there is enough time for a vaccination to boost the immune response
to the virus preventing it from spreading by killing the virus the post-exposure treatment
involves a shot contain immunoglobulins against the rabies virus and a series of vaccinations
over the next two weeks these vaccines can be administered both to animals and humans
to reduce the spread of viral infection workers and rabies prone environments are recommended to
vaccinate themselves regularly such as zookeepers and vets hopefully you now understand what the
rabies virus is how it acts on the nervous system to cause its symptoms and how vaccines
can be used to prevent it although rabies is a frightening disease we do have countermeasures
to prevent it so remember always seek immediate medical help when you get bitten by an animal