Re: Rabies,Rats and Prophylaxis

[Guest guest]

Oh my ! A medical question can bring out Neeti from her wierd

hibernation....Yeah !!

Thanks Neeti, Ashish , Anchita, Shweta....

Neeti....what a splendid lit review....million thanks

Epidemiologic research sucks in India. Communicable disease reporting is towns

is probably nonexistent.

When I was in India I would only think of dog as a cause of Rabies. I am

protected personally because some stupid bit me in one of the backlanes of

Dhanwantri Nagar, Sewagram.

I was wondering better safe than sorry should she get Rabies prophylaxis which

is no big deal these days and have peace of mind.

Dr Seema Pruthi / Kapoor & Madam P Chaturvedi - can we have your last word on

this matter ASAP ??

ashok bhaskar 1984

neeti_suri86 wrote:

Dear Ashok/Anchita and others,

Here are some facts about animal rabies vectors and the need for

rabies prophylaxis that can be helpful in solving the dilemmas like

this one --

In the United States, the animals that test positive for rabies most

frequently are raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes, cats, and dogs (in

decreasing order of importance). About 2% of cases of animal rabies

involve other wild animal species, including large rodents, rabbits

and hares.

The woodchuck (or groundhog, Marmota monax) occasionally carries

rabies, primarily in areas where raccoons are experiencing an

outbreak of rabies at the same time. Rabies infections in large

rodents and rabbits therefore reflect a spillover from

another 'reservoir' species, like raccoons, but such spillovers are

unknown in small rodents (like rats) in the United States.

Rats and other small rodents have never caused a single case of

human rabies in the United States .

A very few cases of humans infected with rabies by rats have been

reported in countries such as Poland, Israel, Thailand and Surinam.

In Poland, out of 9,998 cases of human rabies from 1990 to 1994,

four were caused by rats (0.04%), while the vast majority were

caused by foxes (Zmudziñski and Smreczak 1995, described in

Wincewicz 2002).

In Israel, one case of human rabies was caused by a bite from a

small rodent -- possibly a rat or mouse (Gdalevich et al. 2000).

In Thailand, out of 7,000 human rabies cases reported each year, 1%

are caused by rat bites (Kamoltham et al. 2002). The majority of

rabies cases in Thailand are caused by dogs (86.3%) (Pancharoen et

al. 2001).

An outbreak of paralytic rabies in children in Surinam was

attributed to rat bites (Verlinde et al 1975).

Very few rats infected with rabies have ever been found in the

United States. Winkler (1973) reviewed the literature on rodent

rabies in the United States. He found that during the 18-year period

of 1953 and 1970, a small number of rabid rats (39 rats) were found

in the United States. The numbers were extremely small: only 11

rabid rats were found in the U.S. during the three year period of

1953-1955. The number of rabid rats declined during the period of

time covered by the review, and by the three year period of 1968-

1970 only 2 rats were found to be rabid. This decline in the number

of rabid rats is probably due to an improvement in diagnostic

techniques which led to fewer false positives.

In other countries, no rats were found to be infected with rabies in

surveys of wild rat populations in Sri Lanka (Patabendige and

Wimalaratne 2003), Poland (Wincewicz 2002), and Bangkok, Thailand

(Kantakamalakul 2003). In Thailand,4.7% of Norway rats (9 rats out

of 192) were found to be carrying rabies ( et al. 1968).

So, the upshot is that wild rats have never caused rabies in humans

in the United States and only extremely rarely in other countries.

Rats are therefore not considered a serious rabies risk. Rabies

shots are not considered necessary after a rat bite (Jaffe 1983).

Since 1969, the Public Health Service has advised that " bites of

rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, rats, and mice seldom, if ever, call

for rabies prophylaxis " .

Neeti'86

> Dear Seema / other pediatricians,

>

> I need this info ASAP.

>

> My niece who is in Nashik probably got bit one her ear by a rat 7-

10 days ago.

>

> Here in Chicago area the only cases of Rabies seen are from bat /

rodent bites.

>

> Local pediatrician saw her and said everything should be OK.

>

> Can someone confirm that asap.

>

> ashok bhaskar 1984

>

>

>

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