World Rabies Day is observed on September 28. This year 2022 is marking the 16th World Rabies Day. The theme for this year is ‘Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths’ which highlights the connection of the environment with both people and animals.
In 2007, September 28 as a global health observance was started to raise awareness about rabies prevention, one of world’s deadliest infectious disease as listed by WHO.
28 September is also marked as the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine.
World Rabies Day raise awareness on how rabies impacts communities around the world. Rabies is fatal but vaccine-preventable viral disease and it occurs in more than 150 countries and territories. Dogs are considered responsible as the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99% of all rabies transmissions to humans. Vaccinating dogs is crucially required for preventing rabies in people.
Rabies spread to humans through saliva of infected animals. Usually transmitted through animal bites from stray dogs or domestic dogs who have not been vaccinated. Generally the incubation period for rabies is known to be 2–3 months but this may vary from 1 week to 1 year, depending on factors such as the entry spot of virus and viral load. Initial Symptoms of this fatal disease are basically a fever with pain and unusual tingling, pricking, or burning sensation (paraesthesia) at the wound site. Later with the spread of the virus to the central nervous system it results in progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops.
The disease have two forms with firstly signs of hyperactivity, excitement in behaviour, hydrophobia (fear of water) and in some cases aerophobia (fear of drafts or of fresh air). Ultimately due to cardio-respiratory arrest it leads to death in a few days.
Secondly, 20% of the total number of human cases include Paralytic rabies. This form usually has a long course than the furious form. Starting from the bite or scratch spot , the Muscles gradually gets paralysed, slowly leading and developing coma and eventually death occurs.
Today, the world has the tools and medicines, vaccines and technologies to fight Rabies and eliminate human deaths and as the theme of this year signifies ‘Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths’ so zero deaths’ should be the final goal to erase this fatal disease .
However awareness is the key word in effective rabies prevention.
