Why is the fatality rate of rabies 99.99%, not 100%? May wish to know

Speaking of rabies, everyone is very familiar with it. Once infected, it is equivalent to facing death. In daily life, there are almost no cases where one life can be saved after being infected with rabies virus.

This is because rabies virus has a 99.9% fatality rate, and if the flu virus is bronze, COVID-19 is gold, and Ebola is diamond, rabies is king.

Once infected with rabies virus, the fatality rate is 99.9%, not 100%? In other words, there is still a 0.1% survival rate, which is relatively small, but it also shows that there are still some positive aspects.

Even with great advances in medical care, the cause of death from rabies remains unclear. Why is the fatality rate of rabies 99.99%, not 100%? Let's find out!

Is being infected with rabies virus declared dead?

Regarding the mortality rate of rabies virus, the mortality rate given by WHO is 100%, and it is also written in the epidemiology published in China that the mortality rate of rabies virus is 100%.

However, it is mentioned in the guidelines for the prevention and control of rabies in China that "there is an international rabies mortality rate of 99.9%". Is this a rigorous statement after research, or is it true? With only 0.01% left, who survived?

In fact, there have been cases of no death after contracting rabies in the world. There are currently more than 7 known cases in the world who survived after contracting rabies virus, and these people constitute the remaining 0.01% survival probability.

However, the final results of the study showed that although these cases did not die after being infected with rabies virus, the neurological damage caused by rabies virus in the later period had a serious impact on life.

For today's society, it is necessary to get vaccinated as soon as possible after contracting rabies, otherwise it is likely to face the same consequences of "death" from rabies virus infection as the vast majority of people in the world.

According to China's infectious disease-related data, there is another infectious disease with a mortality rate as high as that of rabies. The number of rabies cases and mortality rates in storms are basically the same. Even if there is a gap, it is the consequence of giving up treatment, or Refuse to continue treatment without a clear diagnosis, rather than rabies showing mercy.

Since rabies is a virus, why can't the body's immune system kill it?

This is because our body's immune system is innately afraid of rabies virus, so when the body faces the invasion of rabies virus, it cannot do an effective defense.

However, rabies is a preventable but difficult to treat disease. It mainly enters the subcutaneous nerve tissue through the skin, reaches the central nervous system, and further develops the disease. Once the disease occurs, there is no specific drug to treat the rabies virus.

Therefore, if you are accidentally bitten by a stray dog, you must go to a regular epidemic prevention station or hospital to get rabies vaccine in time.

The injection of rabies vaccine requires a total of 5 injections in a month. Only the whole course of vaccination can effectively improve the body's chance of resisting further infection by rabies virus.

How did the 0.01% of those infected with the rabies virus escape by chance?

In 2004, a high school student named Jessie in the United States once picked up a bat on the side of the road, but was accidentally bitten by a bat.

So after 37 days, symptoms of rabies appeared, and then a treatment program called "induced coma" was specially designed for Jess at a hospital in Milwaukee.

To put it simply, it is to use anesthesia to anesthetize Jess' brain as much as possible, so that it falls into a state of suspended animation, the brain nerves are in a state of sluggishness, and they cannot transmit information normally, and they can wait until the immune system recovers, which can eliminate the rabies virus. Effect.

Through this method of treatment, Jess's immune system did show signs of recovery after 31 days of hospitalization. In the next 6 days, the rabies virus in Jess was basically completely eliminated.

The following 60 cases of rabies virus-infected patients also implemented this treatment method, which achieved the same effect and eliminated the rabies virus in the body. These and the lucky ones who may exist in the future together make up the rare 0.01%.

But I want to remind everyone that this treatment method has a relatively low success rate, because we cannot guarantee that the brain is under anesthesia, and there will be no virus transmission. Once there are signs of transmission, the infected person may still be is death.

Conclusion: Therefore, in daily life, if you are unfortunately bitten or scratched by an animal, you must pay attention to it. Go to the vaccination point or regular hospital to get rabies vaccine, just in case, because the earlier the rabies vaccine is vaccinated, the better the effect. Do not be negligent.