Girl beats astonishing odds to beat rabies

Precious Reynolds of Willow Creek, California, has become an incredible living figure. As reported by officials at UC Davis Children's Hospital, Reynolds is only the third known person in the U.S. to make it through rabies without quickly receiving batteries of antiviral shots right after getting the disease. Article resource - Miraculous 8-year-old survives rabies without immediate care by Newsytype.com.

Most rabies unlike this one

Reynolds supposedly got rabies in April 2011 from a feral feline near Humboldt County elementary school, although 97 percent of rabies cases are from dog bites. The exact date of the incident is unclear and the animal was not found.

Everyone exposed to rabies is told to get vaccinated within 24 hours for probably the most part. With the virus, typically it will replicate very quickly. The central nervous system is doomed as the target. The disease is fatal in almost 100 percent of rabies cases in humans where it manifests.

Acute encephalitis from rabies

Acute encephalitis, or brain inflation, occurs in warm-blooded animals with rabies. It is most commonly spread by animal bite, through as little as a drop of infected saliva. Prior to the onset of severe symptoms ranging from foaming at the mouth to intense pain and accompanying violent behavior, a post-exposure prophylaxis should be administered within 24 hours to keep the virus from easily spreading through the central nervous system and to the brain.

Early, less severe symptoms of rabies infection are often mistaken for the flu, and include headaches, fever, weakness and discomfort. Insomnia, anxiety, paralysis, hydrophobia and other symptoms set in as the disease progresses. Due to the pain, panic and insanity the victim has to go through, medical experts say that "one of the worst deaths imaginable" is rabies.

Getting to the real diagnosis

Right after Precious Reynolds' grandmother thought symptoms of the flu seemed to be more like polio, she brought her in for tests in May. Once medical authorities discovered that Reynolds had rabies, the prognosis they gave for the girl was grim. The girl was given a ton of antivirals while in a drug-induced coma. This helped.

 

"None of us thought she would leave the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit)," said nurse Krystle Realyvasquez. "When she did, it was unbelievable."

 

A bat infection

There have been others to survive rabies miraculously. A rabid bat bit 14 year old Jeanna Giese in 20004 in Wisconsin. She was in a church pew when it occurred. She did not have immediate treatment, yet survived, making history. The Associated Press explained that Giese just graduated from college. That was just last month.

All about Jeanne Giese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWiYyYwZy_w

Articles cited

Associated Press

startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/123731894.html

Rabies Wiki

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies