Rabies is terrible, it is caused by bites or scratches of animals such as cats and dogs, once the disease occurs, the mortality rate is almost 100%, and worldwide, up to 55,000 people die from the disease every year, that is, one person dies from the disease every 10 minutes.
Fortunately, rabies can also be prevented, after being scratched and bitten by animals, if the wound can be treated in time, the rabies vaccine can be injected, which can achieve almost 100% prevention rate.
So, under what circumstances does rabies vaccination need to be taken?
Rabies exposure can be divided into three levels: grade I exposure refers to contact, feeding animals such as cats and dogs, or the skin being licked is intact; grade II exposure refers to bare skin scratches, abrasions, no bleeding, or skin bites;
Grade III exposure refers to contamination of the mucous membranes, open wounds, or damage to the skin at the site of the lick, or penetrating bites or scratches in one or more places on the skin.
For grade I exposure, no special treatment is required; if it is a grade II exposure, the wound should be treated immediately and the rabies vaccine should be taken to the hospital; and grade III exposure requires not only wound management and vaccination, but also rabies immunoglobulin or serum injection.
To prevent rabies, we should also pay attention to the following 4 things:
1. Vaccinate domestic dogs against rabies
Rabies is particularly harmful, in order to prevent the occurrence of rabies, the family of dogs should be registered, and at the same time to vaccinate them against rabies. In general, dogs can receive the first dose of rabies vaccine at more than 3 months of age, and then they can be strengthened every 11 months.
2. Preventive vaccination
People who are often exposed to dogs, such as pet owners, pet hospital staff, slaughtering personnel, etc., can be preventively vaccinated against rabies, so that the body produces antibodies and plays a role in preventing rabies. Immunity is granted for six months to one year after vaccination.
3. Timely treatment of wounds
If you are unfortunate enough to be scratched or bitten by a cat or dog, you should treat the wound in time. First of all, the wound can be thoroughly cleaned with soapy water, etc., and then applied to the affected area with alcohol and iodine wine to prevent repeated infection of the wound.
4. Timely consultation
After being bitten by cats, dogs and other animals, the rabies vaccine should also be injected in time, the earlier the vaccination, the better, preferably within six hours.
Regarding rabies vaccines, the following points are worth noting:
1. What should I do if I am bitten by a dog again after vaccination?
If you are bitten again after vaccination, you should decide the treatment according to the specific situation, if you are still in the process of vaccination, you can complete the vaccination process according to the original degree, you do not need to increase the dose, if you are in the half year after vaccination, you do not need to be vaccinated again, but if it is more than half a year to a year, you should be vaccinated again.
2. If a dog that has been vaccinated bites a person, whether the bitten person should be injected with rabies vaccine
need. Animals are not guaranteed 100% protection after vaccination and are likely to carry rabies virus, so even if they are bitten by such dogs, they still need to be vaccinated against rabies.
At present, rabies can be called "mortal disease", once the attack, almost 100% of the death, therefore, once the cat and dog scratch, bite, do not have a fluke psychology, to deal with the wound in time, to the hospital to inject rabies vaccine.
If you have a pet dog at home, you should also vaccinate them and take preventive measures, in addition, everyone should pay attention to self-protection when going out, and get along with cats and dogs to avoid being bitten and scratched.