What are the symptoms of rabies?

Rabies does not necessarily occur after being bitten by a dog. In fact, rabies can also occur after being bitten by other animals. Once rabies occurs, the mortality rate is 100%, so everyone must take this disease seriously. The symptoms of rabies are generally obvious, such as high fever, weakness in the limbs, fear of water and light, etc.

1. Manic type (typical):

The most common stage is divided into the prodromal stage, the excitement stage and the paralysis stage. The prodromal stage lasts 1 to 4 days, the excitement stage generally lasts 1 to 3 days, and the paralysis stage is shorter, generally lasting 6 to 18 hours. The average course of the disease is 4 days, usually not more than 6 days, and rarely more than 10 days.

2. Paralysis type (static type):

It is less common and is mainly caused by damage to the spinal cord or medulla oblongata. Patients of this type have no excitement period and typical hydrophobia, and often have high fever, headache, disappearance of vomiting tendon reflex, limb weakness, ataxia, and urinary incontinence, followed by various paralysis, such as limb paraplegia, ascending spinal cord paralysis, etc., and finally often die from respiratory muscle paralysis. The course of this type of disease can be longer, about 7 to 10 days.

Rabies is divided into four stages

1. Incubation period:

The incubation period varies in length, with the shortest being 3 days and the longest being 19 years, generally averaging about 20-90 days. During the incubation period, the infected person does not have any symptoms.

2. Prodromal stage:

The infected person begins to experience general discomfort, low fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, followed by fear, anxiety, irritability and insomnia, and becomes sensitive to sound, light, wind and other stimuli and has a tightness in the throat. There are symptoms such as itching, pain, numbness, tingling and other abnormal sensations in the healing wound and its nerve supply area. This phase lasts 2-4 days.

3. Excitement period:

It manifests as high excitement, with a prominent expression of extreme fear, fear of water and fear of wind. Elevated body temperature (38-40 degrees) and hydrophobia are the characteristics of this disease, but not in every case. Although typical patients are extremely thirsty but dare not drink, seeing water, hearing the sound of water, drinking water, or just mentioning drinking water can cause severe spasm of the pharyngeal muscles. External stimuli such as wind, light, and sound can also cause pharyngeal muscle spasms, which may cause hoarseness, slurred speech, and ventilator spasms may cause breathing difficulties and cyanosis. Sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity can be manifested as profuse sweating, increased heart rate, and increased blood pressure. However, the patient is usually conscious, but may experience mental disorders and hallucinations.

4. Paralysis period:

If the patient manages to survive the excitement phase, he or she will enter the coma phase. During this phase, the patient is in a deep coma, but the various symptoms of rabies are no longer obvious. Most patients who enter this phase eventually die of exhaustion. Patients often suffocate to death due to spasms in the throat.