Abstract
Rabies virus belongs to family Rhabdoviridae and Genus Lyssavirus. It is a lethal disease spread by animal bites that carry the virus in their saliva. Rabies encephalitis has the greatest fatality rate among infectious diseases, with an average time gap of 5 to 7 days for furious or encephalitic rabies and 11 to 14 days for paralytic or dumb rabies from the onset of clinical disease to death. The disease is spread through the bites of dogs and other wild animals. Inhalation in bat-infested caves and laboratory settings are two further methods of transmission. Human-to-human transmission has been described in rare cases due to contaminated corneal transplants. Depression and fever are the first symptoms, followed by agitation, increased salivation, and hydrophobia. The presence of the rabies antigen in nuchal skin biopsies and corneal impression smears is required for antemortem diagnosis using the fluorescent antibody approach. The presence of Negri bodies on histological analysis of the brain confirms the postmortem diagnosis of rabies. The vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin are given as a preventative measure. Till date, the disease has no known treatment.
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Hassaan, S., Firoze, S., Raza, A., Sami, H., Ahmad, S. (2023). Rabies Encephalitis: A Disease Characterized By Complex Neuropathogenic Pathways and Diagnostic Difficulties. In: Sami, H., Firoze, S., Khan, P.A. (eds) Viral and Fungal Infections of the Central Nervous System: A Microbiological Perspective . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6445-1_10
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