Unfortunately, the UDDA did not go on to establish what “accepted medical standards’ were, only that they existed. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.” This act reads as follows regarding “Determination of Death: An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead. The act was drafted in response to medical advances in life support in the late 1970s that allowed for complete respiratory and circulatory support despite the complete cessation of brain function. This was later adopted by the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. The term has been present in medical literature and texts for many years, but as part of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1980, the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) was drafted. Washing the bite site thoroughly with soap and water as soon as possible is also highly recommended to prevent the virus from getting into the body.Brain death is both a legal and clinical term. Whitworth said: "Vaccination, as soon as possible after the bite exposure is highly effective at preventing disease. Human rabies cases are very rare in the U.S., with only one to three cases reported annually, according to the CDC. If you think you may have been exposed to rabies, immediately seek medical attention and follow the recommendations of health care providers and public health officials." "However, there is life-saving treatment for individuals who quickly seek care after being exposed to an animal with rabies.
Ngozi Ezike from the IDPH said in a statement. "Rabies has the highest mortality rate of any disease," Dr. They eventually fall into a coma and die. The muscles of the patient gradually become paralyzed starting at the site of exposure. In paralytic rabies-which accounts for around a fifth of cases in humans according to the World Health Organization-the disease takes a longer course. In these cases, death usually occurs within a few days of symptoms developing due to cardio-respiratory arrest. The signs of furious rabies include hyperactivity, excitable behavior, hydrophobia (fear of water) and sometimes aerophobia (fear of drafts or fresh air). The initial signs of the disease are fever with pain and an unusual tingling, prickling or burning sensation at the site of exposure.Īs the disease develops, patients experience one of two distinct forms of the disease: furious rabies and paralytic rabies. The brain damage caused by rabies produces a variety of symptoms. Once this happens then it is virtually always fatal." What are the symptoms of rabies? "It gets into nerves around the bite site and makes its way over a few days or weeks into the brain and spinal cord. "The thing about the rabies virus is that it has a preference for nervous tissue," Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Newsweek. The reason the virus is so deadly is that causes significant and progressive damage to the brain and spinal cord, as well as the fact that people show no symptoms until the pathogen has reached the brain-at which point, it is almost always too late to prevent death. Once the virus starts affecting the brain people begin to develop symptoms and from this point, the disease is almost always fatal. When the virus reaches the brain, it multiplies there rapidly causing inflammation before passing to the salivary glands and the saliva. Typically, the virus takes three to 12 weeks to reach the brain depending on the site of exposure and other factors, although this period can be as short as a week and as long as a year or more in rare cases. Before the virus reaches the brain, the infected individual does not usually experience any symptoms. When the rabies virus enters the body through the saliva of an infected animal, it travels from the site of exposure to the brain via the nerves and the spinal cord. People who are exposed to the virus must receive treatment as soon as possible to prevent the development of disease. Once symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal in humans. In the U.S., where dogs are routinely vaccinated against rabies, this animal tends to be a bat. The virus is usually transmitted when people are bitten by an infected animal. Rabies is a serious viral disease that affects the brain and spinal cord of mammals.