Have you thought that rabies was just a virus in animals

Have you thought that rabies was just a virus in animals? Maybe not, but that’s what I have thought my whole life. The rabies virus that is found in humans has one of the highest mortality rates ever. Around 50,000 people are dying worldwide from rabies each year. Although that number for world wide is really big, there have only been 55 cases diagnosed in United States since 1990. Raccoons and bats are most likely to infect people with rabies.
Rabies is an aggressive disease that causes swelling in the brain. People normally get rabies by getting bit by a rabid animal, but it also can rarely be spread by the rabid animals drool (saliva), nose, or even getting bodily fluids in an open wound. Some symptoms of rabies are; needless movement, hallucination, peculiar thoughts, aggressiveness, and muscle spasms. Although these symptoms seem like something you couldn’t miss it can take weeks, even months to have any of them to appear.
The rabies shot was first created by Louis Pasteur. It is highly advised by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to vaccinate directly after you have or think you have been affected by a rabid animal. Almost everybody who was affected and didn’t get a vaccination died due to rabies. It is given to people who are at higher risk of getting bit by a rabid animal. For example veterinarians and animal control are two big ones because they are handling animals that could be vicious. If you have had the vaccine before and you get bit or attacked, us should also get the shot again just to be safe. There has been a myth that the rabies shot could give you rabies but it is a fact the rabies vaccine is made from killed rabies virus. Therefore it is not even logical to think that you could get rabies from it.
On September 4, 2004 a 15 year old girl was bit by a rabid bat that she was trying to rescue at her church. Jenna Geise was the first person ever to survive rabies without the vaccination. After a couple days Jenna started getting some symptoms but didn’t realize it. On October 13 everything got a little crazy. She started having worse symptoms; slurred speech, hallucinations, and many more. Jenna’s mom took her to childrens hospital and the doctors did a bunch of different tests. The pediactric disease specialist for the hostpital heard about what happened and started researching. He was very pleased with what he found. He found out that the humans immune system can fight off almost any virus if it has enough time before the virus reaches the person’s brain. To save some time, it was necessary to put Jenna into an induced coma. Although that may lead to side affects afterward it was what needed to happen for her to live. The doctors gave her a variety of drugs to help and 6 days after Jenna’s body started responding and started to fight off the rabies. After she woke up from her coma she went to lots of rehabilitation so she could learn how to walk and talk again. “After countless hours of work today she is almost back to normal. Putting her in an induced coma was a really big risk to take, but in the end I am very thankful that we made the decision we made because today we still have our daughter!” said Jenna’s Parents.
The actions that were taken on Jenna is now known as the Milwaukee Protocol. It has been recognized world wide but is a very controversial topic. 41 patients have been treated with this protocol but only 6 of them have lived. Doctors and scientists are not sure why this hasn’t worked on everybody but they would still recommend trying it because you might die with or without it, but you have a better chance living if you take the risks. Dr. Willoughby for Wisconsin has suggested to test the Milwaukee Protocol on animals but no research has been started at this point.